Rescue Me
by Swordsman289
Summary: Takes place in "What If: Another Duo" universe and a few months after ACiT. A close friend of Ratchet is kidnapped and tortured. With the help of Louis and his batallion, Ratchet would take impossible odds to get her back...no matter the cost. Rated T.R
1. Imprisonment

A/N: Well, here's my next story. Sequel to "What If: Another Duo". I've worked on it a lot for the past days and i really, REALLY, wanted to post this. I've become so impatient that i can't wait for a week to publish it. I've really want you to read this and tell me what you think. Some constructive criticism is welcomed. 4 chapters are already done, but i'll post them in days apart. This chapter is short, basically the prologue. Enjoy and tell me what you think.  
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Prisoner #25372's cell was opened for the second time today. She lay on the bed, and when she looked up, she saw a large Cragmite jail guard standing in front of the deactivated laser gate.

"Ready to talk, worm?" he asked in his deep, scratchy voice.

"No, you can't make me talk!" she yelled back. But deep in her mind, she knew that she'll break eventually. They had tortured her 14 times this week, trying to get information out of her.

"Here we go again," the jail guard said with a hint of glee in his voice. He motioned to his left and right, and two smaller Cragmite soldiers appeared. The two entered her cell, grabbed her arms, and dragged her to the torture chamber. The jail guard led the way as the soldiers dragged her all the way.

Once inside, they placed her on a metal chair and strapped her on to it. Once she was strapped to the chair, one of the soldiers punched her in the stomach, causing the air in her lungs to leave. She jerked forward and did raspy breaths, trying to get air. The jail guard stepped forward and followed suit. He gave her powerful jabs to her stomach and face. Once he was done, Prisoner # 25372 had blood dripping down her mouth and she was barely conscious.

Then a new figured appeared. It was another Cragmite. He was well built and wore a military uniform with many medals, ribbons, and four bolts on both of the shoulder straps. He is a Cragmite four-bolt general that led Emperor Tachyon's Cragmite army. He was also responsible for Prisoner #25372's kidnapping. He motioned to the guards and they dumped a bucket of water on her. The guards left for a moment, but came back with a low voltage battery and jump-starter wires.

"Leave," the General ordered the guards. As they left, he attached the wires to the battery and turned it on. With a wire in each hand, he moved up to her and asked, "Want to talk before I begin?" She spat on his face, indicating that she'll never talk. He then wiped off the mixture of saliva and blood with his sleeve. The prisoner then screamed in agony as the general made the wires made contact with her wet fur. After five, agonizing seconds, the surge stopped. She cried out and gasped for air. "Want to talk now?"

She lifted her head and hesitantly replied, "N-no." The general knew that she was at a breaking point and decided to take advantage of it. He then let the wires touch again. Prisoner #25372 felt the same pain throughout her body. This time, the surge lasted for 20 seconds. Once it was over, her head drooped and she nearly blacked out.

"If you want this to stop, you better tell us where he is…"

"Angela Cross…"

Angela painfully lifted her head. She couldn't take it anymore. For a week, she endured 15 torture sessions, and finally she was broken. No more than a whisper, she murmured, "Veldin…Kyzil…Plateau…"

Satisfied with her answer, the General ordered the guards back in and told them to take her back to cell. They unstrapped her from the chair, dragged her, and threw Angela into the cell. The laser gate was then activated by the jail guard. On the ground, Angela pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and cried. She didn't cry due to the pain, she cried because she led Ratchet to his doom and betrayed his trust.

"I…hope Louis is with him…to help him..." she whispered before she fell into a painful sleep.

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A/N: More chapters will come up soon. Also, if you don't know who Louis is, read my other story "What if: Another Duo" to get in the loop.


	2. A Returning Brother

A/N: This is where Louis come in. As said in the previous chapter, if you don't know who he is, read "What If: Another Duo." Enjoy and tell me what you think.  
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It's been five months since the Great Clock incident. It's been eight years since Captain Louis Ramirez was jettisoned into Ratchet's galaxy. He returned to Earth after he, Ratchet, Clank, and Clark stopped General Alistair Azimuth from using the Great Clock. Once he got back, he was given awards and over-due promotions. There, he and hundreds of other soldiers were trained as super soldiers; given physical, surgical, and chemical augmentations, Trillium and Carbonox alloyed body suit, and a battalion of 20 other super soldiers. He was their commanding officer. They were called Task Force: Leviathan, one of the best of the best on Earth. Now, he and his troops are in their transport, the Leviathan (Duh!), going to the Solana Galaxy.

Ramirez sat in the co-pilot's chair with his helmet on his lap, thinking how much he and Ratchet and changed throughout the years. Both of them were arrogant, short-tempered, and never got along at first. However, after Drek was defeated, both went through major changes. Ramirez still had the sense of command, but he was kind and polite, but vicious when he needs to be. Ratchet is also kind, selfless, and willing to get himself killed to save his friends. Ratchet's appearance had also changed; at first, Ratchet was only a few inches taller than Ramirez's elbow. Now, Ratchet is a few inches taller than Ramirez's shoulders.

Ramirez looked over his shoulder and asked his troops, "We didn't forget our present for Ratchet, did we?"

A Sergeant replied, "No we didn't Cap. It's in the back."

"Captain, when are we going to be there?" a Corporal asked.

"Soon, Corporal, soon," Ramirez replied.

They were traveling in hyperspace, so they'll reach Veldin's outer atmosphere in 30-40 minutes. In about 40 minutes, they exited hyperspace and stopped in front of Veldin. _I'm back…_ Ramirez thought happily. He pressed a button on the console, trying to make contact with Ratchet.

***

Ratchet was doing some maintenance on his ship, Aphelion. After tightening bolts on the on the engine, he stepped back and sat on a crate. His clothes were covered in oil, as some of the bolts caused some oil to spray out. Taking off his right glove, he wiped the sweat off his brow. He was alone in his home; Clank was off doing another Secret Agent Clank film called "From Reepor with Love" (Ba-Da-Bum), and Clark had a part in it. Ratchet got up, went through a door on his right, and entered his subterranean home. It was some-what small: it had a master bedroom, a guest room, two bathrooms, an entire room dedicated to his and Ramirez's collected arsenal and armors, and a living room which serves as a kitchen, laundry, and dining.

Ratchet removed his oily outer garments, placed them in the washer, and entered the shower. After the oil was washed off from his fur, he heard some beeping from his computer. He turned off the shower, wrapped his lower body with a towel, and entered his room. He was getting a video call. When he answered, he saw a familiar face.

"Louis?"

***

"Hey Ratchet, good to see you again," Ramirez replied. He saw Ratchet in a towel and asked, "Took a shower?"

"Yeah," Ratchet answered back.

"Hey is Clark and Clank there?" Ramirez asked.

"They're doing shots for another Secret Agent Clank movie. They won't be back for some time." Ratchet then saw 19 wide-eyed, awed people hovering over Ramirez's shoulder and asked, "Um…who are they?"

Ramirez looked over his shoulder and replied, "Oh, these are my troops, this is their first time in a different galaxy, and are excited to see an alien."

They all laughed about it, until Ramirez saw a hostile ship out of the corner of his eye. Once he had a better view, his chemically enhanced eyes saw the emblem of the Emperor Tachyon's Crown, the insignia of the Cragmite Empire on the ship's portside hull. The ship was heading towards Kyzil Plateau.

Ramirez hastily said, "We got a problem: there's a Cragmite transport heading towards your position."

"What?! How did they find me?!" Ratchet yelled.

"I don't know, but be ready for a fight." Ratchet nodded and cut communication. Ramirez looked over his shoulder and ordered, "Prepare for your first battle in another galaxy! We're going to sky dive into the fight!" A cheer roared throughout the ship as his troops were pumped with adrenaline.


	3. Challenges

Ratchet didn't waste any time; he quickly ran to his armory, entered his pass code, and entered. He hastily donned his Hyper-Flux armor, put his Omega Constructo Pistol in his side holster, slid on the Omega Constructo Bomb Glove on his left hand, slung the Omega Constructo Shotgun on his back, and grabbed the Omega Judicator. Ratchet ran outside, saw the incoming Cragmite ship and hid behind a boulder for cover.

* * *

"Alright, boys and girls, lock and load!" Ramirez yelled. Everyone put on their helmets and loaded their weapons. They had a redesigned ACR assault rifle—which fires bolts of plasma—plasma grenades, and a M9 plasma pistol. "Activate your shields and get ready to drop!"

Everyone but the pilot went to the sides of the transport and grabbed an over-head handle. Everyone waited to see the green light to turn on. The side doors slowly opened and the oxygen inside was sucked out as the vacuum of space entered the hull. They felt like they were getting pulled outside. The green lights turned on. Through the helmets' internal com-link, the pilot yelled, "GO, GO, GO!"

As soon as they heard the pilot, everyone let go of their handles, flew out the transport, and descended rapidly into Veldin's atmosphere.

"Whatever you do, do _not_ destroy the Cragmite ship. Its flight logs could tell us where they came from," Ramirez ordered his troops as he burned through the atmosphere.

* * *

The Cragmite ship landed about 50 yards away from Ratchet's garage. One by one, Cragmite soldiers and brutes exited and scouted the area. Ratchet turned the safety off on his weapons and was about to open fire until Ramirez's voice came through the com-link.

"Ratchet, whatever you do, do _not _destroy the Cragmite transport. We can hack its flight logs and find out where they came from."

"Acknowledged," Ratchet replied.

Ratchet switched the Omega Judicator for the Omega Constructo Shotgun. When he looked out of cover, he saw three Cragmites in a group. Ratchet armed the Omega Constructo Bomb Glove, produced a bomb and threw it into the middle of the group. All three were vaporized when the grenade exploded. The rest of the Cragmites turned to the direction where the grenade came from and opened fire. There were way too many for Ratchet to handle, they outnumbered him from 30 to 1. Ratchet opened fire with the shotgun. The spread of pellets managed to kill some of the Cragmites. However, the west of the Cragmites flanked him. There were right behind him.

"We got you now! Drop your weapons and hands up!" a Cragmite soldier ordered. Ratchet knew that his armor can take a lot of damage, but there's always a limit. He dropped his weapons and put his hands up. "Heh…heh…you should have known you would lose. You're alone."

Ratchet looked up and saw 20 streaks of flame descending towards his location. He smiled and said, "Who said that I was alone?"

* * *

"10,000 meters!" Ramirez yelled through the com-link.

They were descending fast. They were still and were vertical so they can cut through the atmosphere. Their armors were golden-yellow from burning through the atmosphere. Usually, objects would get disintegrated at that speed, but with Trillium and Carbonox plating and shielding, they were fine.

"8000 meters…7000…6000…5000…4000…3000…2000…1000...500! Now!"

Everyone somersaulted so their feet faced the ground. Once they did that, they activated their hover boots to slow their descent. Meter after meter, they gradually slowed down. On touch down, there was a loud thump as they all landed as one. As the dust settled, the Cragmites turned to look at them.

Gun ready, Ramirez yelled, "Open fire, Leviathans!" All of the Leviathans fired their weapons. Ratchet took the opportunity; he grabbed his Omega Constructo Pistol and joined in the fight.

It was a fast paced fire fight. Plasma bolts and globs of plasma flew everywhere. There was barely any cover, and all of the soldiers, including Ratchet and Ramirez, got hit. However, thanks to Task Force: Leviathans' shielding system and Ratchet's high damage protection armor, the Cragmites were losing. One by one, the Cragmites died. All of the Cragmites were spotted with plasma burns.

"Clear!" a female Corporal yelled.

Everyone turned the safety on their weapons. Ramirez removed his helmet, took a deep breath, and let loose a happy sigh. He preferred the smell of the air without the helmet's filter system. Breathing sterile air seemed…unnatural to Ramirez. Everyone else removed their helmets, too and took a big breath of Veldin's air. Some coughed due to the dry climate.

Ramirez went to Ratchet and said, "Well Ratchet, this is my team." All of the troops smiled and introduced themselves. "Hey, we got a present." He then put his helmet back on and said to the pilot, through coms, "You can land now."

Their transport landed 50 yards away. Ramirez entered the ship and went to the back. Minutes later, he reappeared with a huge case. He presented the case to Ratchet, which he opened. Inside was a pale grey armored-suit that's designed to fit a Lombax. On the armor plate of the left arm, there was a small emblem of the head of the space leviathan.

"What is this?" Ratchet asked.

"It's your own modified Task Force armor. Trillium and Carbonox alloyed armor plating, a HUD visor in the helmet, a constant rechargeable shielding system, hidden gauntlet ballistic blades on each arm, and a programmable camouflage system. It's all yours." Ratchet looked at his own armor and saw how much damage it took: the plating was covered with dents and scorch marks, and some of the plating melted. It would cost a fortune to repair and clean the Hyper-Flux armor. Ratchet didn't know what to say, but he wanted to try it on. Ramirez saw it in his eyes and he told him, "Yeah, you can try it on." Ratchet ran to his home, excited. He then faced one of troops and ordered, "Alright, I want you to go in the Cragmite ship and hack their flight logs. Get someone's help if you need to."

"Sir, yes, sir!" the trooper saluted before he entered the ship.

Everyone else started to clean up the place. After that, they just relaxed. Many of them played card games, slept, read books, or played on the Gamestation 3s that they brought with them. Ratchet had some trouble putting the armor on, so Ramirez sent a few troops to help.

While the troops were taking a break from gaming, Ramirez was lying on the couch and watched the news, trying to catch up on what had happened. After 15 minutes of watching sports scores, something caught his attention. On the title bar, it says "Search for Missing Mega Corp. Employee Continues."

Ramirez sat up. Remembering Angela, Ramirez got a little worried. _Nah, it can't be her. _Ramirez shuffled a bit uncomfortable at the possibility. _However, it's better to be safe than sorry._ "Ratchet, could you come to the living room for a minute?" Ramirez called out.

Ratchet appeared, wearing the armor and carrying the helmet under his arm. "What's up?"

"Watch this," Ramirez replied as he increased the volume.

The news anchor appeared and said, "Hello, our Top Story for this evening: the search for missing Mega Corp. employee, a female Lombax named Angela Cross, continues." Ramirez and Ratchet were taken back. What really took them back was the confirmation that Angela was Lombax. Both didn't know until now. "Five weeks ago, Abercrombie Fizzwidget, CEO of Mega Corp, reported her missing when she didn't show up to work for three days. Here's his statement he gave when he reported her missing."

They then showed a recording of an interview with Mr. Fizzwidget. He said, "Angela is an excellent employee. She always enjoyed her work and always shows up. Unlike many of my employees, she works overtime and works on her days off. She accumulated four years worth of vacation days. Angela isn't a person that goes on vacation often, so when she didn't show up for work, I knew something was wrong."

Ratchet turned off the vidscreen, and sat on the couch, in confusion and fear. Where is she? Why did she leave? Is she in danger? These kinds of questions filled his mind. He was worried.

Ramirez saw it in Ratchet's eyes. He placed a comforting hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll find her. She's probably sick and forgot to tell Fizzwidget." On his com-link, he asked the trooper in the Cragmite's ship, "What did you find."

"Not good," he replied, "There was virus program that deleted most of the information. However, I managed to delete the program and got one planet and a time: Planet Gelbin, five weeks ago."

Ramirez's heart rate spiked. He jumped off the coach. "Everyone on the transport, now!" Ramirez ordered.

"What's wrong?" Ratchet asked.

"The Cragmites went to Grelbin at the time she disappeared. We're Oscar Mike—we're on the move!"


	4. A Painful Discovery

They left Veldin immediately. After setting hyper-drive co-ordinates to Grelbin in the Bogan Galaxy, they jumped into hyper-space. Traveling from galaxy to galaxy would take hours, so they had plenty of time to prepare. They checked and clean their weapons, set the armor's camouflage to the color of the frozen wastes, and ate a quick meal. MRE's were passed around. Ratchet, however, ate a few bites of the boneless pork chop. Then, Ratchet realized something: he had never acted this way, despaired. He tried to regain his composure for a few minutes, but the fear always kicked in. He won't relax until he knows she's safe.

A few hours later, they exited hyper-space and were in Grelbin's atmosphere. Minute after minute, they descended into the frozen wastes. While they were looking for the landing platform that's nearest to Angela's home, Ratchet just stared at his food. After a few minutes of silence, Ratchet asked out loud, "Why didn't I know that she was a Lombax?"

1stLt. Locke looked up from his meal and tried to comfort Ratchet. "You can't blame yourself for that Ratchet."

Ramirez joined in the conversation. "Yeah Ratchet. You've lived alone for most of your life, and you didn't live with your kind. You've couldn't have known if a female Lombax is the same as you…" Ratchet then looked at him, and Ramirez felt a bit embarrassed. "I-I mean…I didn't think…that Angela was a Lombax…because…" He then rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, and softly added, "She didn't have a tail."

Ratchet looked out through the port-side window, watching the snowflakes fall and the rainbow lights that crisscrossed in the sky. "I hope she's safe somewhere," Ratchet murmured.

After touch down, they disembarked. The hippy still lives there, and he is still surrounded by the strange floating rocks. Thinking he might have seen something, Ramirez went up to him, with Ratchet and the others behind him.

The hippie was in a deep, meditative trance; hands in the air, legs crossed, and ohming as he went on. Being respectful, Ramirez wanted to wait to see if the hippie would come back to reality. 10 minutes then passed….then 20…then 30.

Ratchet was losing patience, he was about to walk up to that hippie and shake him to wake him up. Then he opened his eyes and smiled.

"You have learned the value of patience well, children," the hippie said in his gear-like voice.

"Well, you can't be a sniper if you can't wait for the perfect shot," Ramirez replied.

"True enough, child. May I ask all of you to remove your helmets?" he asked. Once they did what was asked, the hippie studied the faces of the people infront of him. When he looked at Ratchet, he spoke to him directly, "Sorrow and fear fill your eyes, child. What's wrong?"

Ratchet never liked him and always was suspicious of him. Somehow, his heart is telling him to speak with him. "Well," Ratchet began, "Angela is missing. We are hoping you could help. Do you know where she is? Did anyone see her?" Ratchet then handed the hippie a picture of the Cragmite's vessel. "Did this ship come by here?"

The hippie looked at the photo and sighed. He gave the photo back and replied, "I am sorry, but I haven't seen her. However, a male Markazian did ask me where she was. This was five weeks ago. Anyway, he was frantic and said that she's in danger. I obliged and he left. A ship left her home soon afterwards. The transport you showed me _did_ fly towards her home afterwards. I do not know what happened after." He then paused and meditated for a few moments. He opened his eyes and added, "Rejoice child. The universe spoke to me that she is alive. However, she's in great pain. You must go to her." He said nothing else and went back to meditation.

Done with the conversation, they entered the frozen wasteland and traveled east. They encountered Y.E.T.I., but they were easily and quickly dealt with. They walked mile after mile of the frozen wasteland. Then they reached the Cliffside where Angela's house was on top of. The ionized ramp that leads to the top of the cliff where Angela lives was still there. Using their gravity boots, they walked towards the top.

At the top, Ratchet's heart was caught in his throat when he saw the sight. Angela's home was destroyed.


	5. A Path of Clues

Ratchet's knees gave in when he looked at the site. Angela's home was in ruins. The Cragmites must have blown it up when they arrived. _I could have protected her…_Ratchet thought. Ratchet thought it was a good thing that he was wearing his helmet, no one could see that he was on the verge of tears.

A Private walked up to him to try to cheer him up. "Hey, remember what that hippie said? She's still alive."

Ratchet didn't even feel better. "Yeah? Well he also said that she's in great pain."

The soldier didn't say anything else and walked away.

"Alright troops," Ramirez began, "there might be a clue on where'd they went. Let's split up and search through the wreckage."

All of them split up to find clues. Ratchet walked through the charred hallways. While walking, he heard a crunch as he stepped on something. Once, he stepped back, he saw a broken picture frame. The picture was taken by Ramirez a few days after the Protopet incident. Ramirez's camera was an old one; the one that still uses film. He had it with him when he was jettisoned to the Solana Galaxy. It was taken in Angela's living room. After Ramirez set the timer, Angela ran because she was in a different room and the timer was almost up. Meanwhile, Ratchet, Ramirez, Clank, and Clark sat on the couch. She tripped on a rug and fell right in front of them. The camera flashed as they helped her up. However, there were all laughing together, having a good time. The camera was in its last film, so they can't redo it. Ramirez managed to develop it and made three copies, one for each of them. Ratchet smiled at the memory, and removed it from the frame. The main image survived, but parts of the sides are burnt. He was about to put the photo in his pack, until he saw some numbers on the back. When he got a better look, the numbers were: 63-17-59. He wondered what it means.

Then the coms crackled. "HEY! I found a safe in the bedroom!" a Corporal informed the team.

Ratchet put the photo away and ran to the bedroom. Once inside, Ramirez and three other Leviathans were in there. On the wall behind the charred remains of a bed post, there was a titanium safe with a number pad.

"Can you open it?" Ramirez asked the Corporal.

"I'm afraid not, sir," the Corporal replied, "It requires three double-digit numbers. We can't blow it open without compromising whatever's inside."

Ratchet then realized that the numbers on the back of the photo were the codes for the safe. He walked up to the safe and entered 63 on the number pad. Although the safe was covered with soot, it still worked. The safe made a confirmed beep, and then Ratchet entered the last two numbers. The safe became unlocked and opened. Inside was an emergency check for 500,000 bolts, some jewelry, documents, and a note.

Ratchet picked up the note and read it. He frowned and yelled, "This doesn't make sense! It's all a bunch of dots, dashes, and slashes." He handed the note to Ramirez.

It reads: --./---// -/---// --/.-/-.-/-/.-/.-.// .-././…/---/.-./-/// .-.././..-./-// …/---/--/./-/…./../-./--.// ../-.// .-./.-/-/-.-./…././-/…// -./.-/--/./// .-/-./--././.-../.-// ../…// .--/../-/….// --/.///

Ramirez read the note, confused also. He passed the note to the other Leviathans. When a Pfc. named Cook received the note, he knew about the encrypted message.

"I-I know this," Pfc. Cook stammered, "This is Morse code! It's a system of communication through radio or written messages." He then uploaded a Morse code alphabet into his visor, took out a pencil from his pack, and write on the back of the note. "Now if this is right…got it. Read this." Cook gave the now deciphered message to Ramirez and Ratchet.

It now says: Go to Maktar Casino. Left something in Ratchet's name. Angela is with me.

Max Apogee.

The name Apogee struck a chord in Ratchet's and Ramirez's memory.

"Wait…Max Apogee is Talwyn's father, right Ratchet?" Ramirez asked.

"Yeah, if Angela's in danger, so is Max," Ratchet replied, "If there's something in Maktar Casino that could lead us to them, we need to go now!"

Ramirez opened up the com channels and ordered, "We got a lead, everyone go back to the transport. We're Oscar Mike!"

They regrouped and returned to the ship. Entering co-ordinates to the space casino, they gained enough altitude and vanished in a flash of light as they entered hyperspace.

The jump only lasted 15 minutes. The casino was practically a space station. It has its own shielding system and creates its own atmosphere. Ramirez and Ratchet changed into regular clothing so they won't cause any suspicion. After docking, Ratchet and Ramirez exited the transport and walked into the casino's lobby. A male Blargian concierge wearing a tuxedo was there to meet them.

He saw them and said, "Welcome to Maktar Resort and Casino. Do you wish to buy chips or rent a room?"

"No thanks," Ratchet replied, "My name is Ratchet. Did a Markazian named Max Apogee drop off anything for me?"

The concierge was taken aback by the introduction. He looked around and motioned the two to get closer. Once they did, he whispered, "Yes, he did come by. He left a package for you. He also said if Cragmites appeared, I shouldn't tell them anything." He reached for something under the desk and placed a wrapped box on top of the desk. "Here you go."

Taking the box, Ratchet took out 300 bolts and gave them to the concierge. "Thank you."

The two left and re-entered the transport. Once inside, they unwrapped the box and opened it. Inside were a touch-screen PDA device and a data-chip. Ramirez inserted the chip into the PDA. On the screen, a message and a circle appeared. There were two, changeable wheels in the circle, an outer and an inner. Each wheel had the entire human English alphabet on them. The message says: U=A| AI NI GL. ZCIIQCXAYN. BY BUM MIGYNBCHA ZIL SIO.

After reading this, Ramirez laughed out loud. "Never thought I'd see this again; it's a Cipher Wheel. All I have to do is align the 'U' on the outer-wheel with 'A' on the inner-wheel." After aligning the wheels, Ramirez deciphered the message on a piece of paper. "Now if this is right…got it." He then handed the note to Ratchet.

It now says: Go to Mr. Fizzwidget. He has something for you.

They left Maktar Resort and jumped to planet Yeedil. Minutes later, they landed on Mega Corp HQ's parking structures. Ramirez and Ratchet left their transport and entered the main lobby. There was a robot secretary working in the front desk. The robot was designed to look like a woman and have the voice of one. Looking up from her computer, she saw Ratchet and Ramirez.

"Hello," the secretary greeted them, "Welcome to Mega Corp Head Quarters. How may I help you?"

Ramirez walked up and replied, "I'm Louis Ramirez, and he's Ratchet. We need to see Mr. Fizzwidget. It's important"

"One moment, please." She picked up the desk's phone to call Mr. Fizzwidget's office.

* * *

Abercrombie Fizzwidget was working in his office. He was supposed to sign some business contracts, but he couldn't concentrate. It was about Max Apogee and Angela Cross. Three weeks ago, Max and Angela visited his home in Megaopolis. He was relieved to see her safe. They told him that they were on the run, but didn't say why. Max gave him two packages, said that they were for someone, and promised to keep in touch. However, Angela also told Mr. Fizzwidget not to tell the authorities about their encounter; it could endanger them both. Mr. Fizzwidget promised to keep it a secret. However, starting last week, he was getting nervous. He hasn't received any transmissions from them throughout the week. Also, one of the packages burst into flames.

Mr. Fizzwidget put down his pen, grabbed something under his desk, and placed it on top. It was the second package. He never opened it once he got it, but he was starting to reconsider. He was about to tear off the wrappings until his front desk secretary's voice came from the desk's inter-com.

"Mr. Fizzwidget? Are you there?" the secretary asked.

He pressed the inter-com's push-to-talk button and replied, "Yes, I'm here. What do you need?"

"There's a Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Ratchet here that want to see you. Should I let them through?"

Mr. Fizzwidget was stunned. _Ratchet and Ramirez are here? _He thought. He then looked at the still unopened package. _Is the package for them? _He pressed the PTT button again and replied, "Send them in."

* * *

"Yes, sir." She then put the phone down and said to Ratchet and Ramirez directly, "Take the elevator to the top floor." After that, she went back to her computer.

Taking the nearest elevator, they ascended to the 70th floor. During the elevator ride, Ratchet paced around, losing patience. He wanted to get whatever Mr. Fizzwidget has for them. After they've reached the 70th floor, they went down a hallway, which led to the door to his office. After the door slide open, they saw Mr. Fizzwidget standing in front of his desk.

"Hello, boys. Good to see you two again," Mr. Fizzwidget greeted them.

Ratchet stepped inside the office and hastily said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fizzwidget, but we're not here for pleasantries. We believe that…"

"That Max Apogee left something with me?" Fizzwidget interrupted. Ratchet was dumbfounded and Ramirez was a bit surprised. Fizzwidget gave a small chuckle and continued "Yes, I know. Max and Angela visited my home about three weeks ago. During that visit, Max gave me two packages, which I suspect I must give to you." He then paced around his office and rubbed the back of his head. "However, starting last week, I'm getting a bit worried. They stopped sending me transmissions. Also, one of the packages burst into flames." He then went to his desk, grabbed the package, and gave it to them. "Please, if the contents in that box would tell us what happened, I want to know."

Opening the box, they found another data-chip. Ramirez inserted the chip into the PDA they found earlier. Another puzzled appeared. Three numbers appeared: 951. Two more Cipher Wheels appeared. Unlike the last one, each wheel had numbers 0-9 on them. One hint was given: 5=3. There was a touch screen "Enter" to enter the password.

Ramirez knew this puzzle, too. "Ok, this is almost the same as the last one. Instead of letters, it's numbers. I have to align the 5 on the outer-wheel and the 3 on the inner-wheel. Now if this is right…the password is…739." He pressed "Enter" and entered the password. The screen turned black and a play button appeared. Ramirez pressed play and placed the PDA on the desk for everyone to see.

A male, middle-aged Markazian appeared. He had dark, purple-ish hair with a full grown beard that covered most of his lower face. He wore a tan, archeologist outfit.

"Hello, I'm Max Apogee. If you're watching this video, but the other chip exists, decipher that one first. This one isn't important if that chip exists." Max gave a little chuckle, but his face quickly became grave. "But…if this is the only chip left…then…" He paused, covered his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. "That means…the Cragmites…has captured us." Ratchet's heart stopped for a brief moment. His worst fear became true: Angela was captured. Max Apogee then held up a detonator and continued, "If the Cragmites ever caught up with us, I'll destroy the other chip. It was more clues that would tell you where our safe house is. Now, I don't know where the Cragmites are, but I have a lead. The Cragmites are getting their weapons from smugglers in the Solana Galaxy. A Blarg named Roran and his partner, a Tyhrranoid named Wrex. Please, find them, get the Cragmites' base's location, and save Angela. Also…please tell my daughter…I'm sorry for making her worried about me disappearing and I will still love her." The screen went black.

Ratchet was filled with rage. He was angrier than ever before; the Cragmites kidnapped one his friends. He would make them pay.

Mr. Fizzwidget turned to them and ordered, "Boys…get them back…no matter the cost."

Ramirez, who was also angry, replied, "Don't worry." He started to walk out, until he turned around and growled, "We will kill the Cragmites." The two left the office and took the elevator down. The Cragmites made two, crucial, and maybe their last mistakes: never, EVER, piss off a Lombax commando _and_ the Commanding Officer of a super-soldier task force.

* * *

A/N: I might have made a mistake on the puzzles that are in this chapter. If you find a mistake, let me know so I could correct it. Much obliged.


	6. The Bait

A/N: I'm planning to do another story with Louis's brother, John (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read "What If: Another Duo" to get a basic understandment). If I plan to publish it, I would have three books in progress. Do you think that I'm going a bit overboard? If I am, please tell me.

* * *

The Task Force went to Galactic Authorities Solana Head Quarters in Metropolis, Kerwan. The director for that Head Quarters knew Ratchet and Ramirez, so he gave them full access to criminal files. The Task Force's computer technician and cyber-warfare expert, Pvt. Ryan, went through the files.

"Hmm…okay, I've found the files. The Blarg: Roran, or known as the "Shadow Dealer", last name unknown. He has escaped authorities for over eight years. Witnesses state that he's 6' 1'', originally had gold eyes, but had to replace his left eye with a robotic replacement, also his left arm could have been a robotic limb. He is rumored to have a scar that starts above his left eye and ends at the bottom of his right jaw. No confirm reports on his physical appearance. This is what Galactic Authorities found on Drek's computer on his flagship: Roran served in Drek's army as a Sergeant, until he was dishonorably discharged when Drek was killed," Pvt. Ryan read out loud.

Ratchet turned to Ramirez and said, "Wait…I think we fought him on Black Water City. I've threw a bomb at a Blarg Trooper, but he survived but lost a limb in the blast."

"Could be, Ratchet," Ramirez replied. "Continue on, Pvt. Ryan."

"Okay…the Tyhrrannoid: Wrex "Nine Lives" Werlocke. Reports say that he's a three-eyed Tyhrranoid, green eyes, blue-skin, and has a scar on his right cheek. He, too, managed to escape the authorities for four years. He served as a Battalion Commander for Dr. Nefarious' army. He barely survived nine, failed, engagements; that's how he got the nick name. He was also dishonorably discharged when Dr. Nefarious was defeated. He then met Roran and became his assistant."

"Okay, I see a similarity here," Ramirez said, "they've served under two enemies that threatened the safety of the galaxies. So…how do we get them?"

"How about we let them do their job?" Ryan suggested. Ratchet looked at him, really confused. " Okay…let me make it clear: we _pretend _to be one of Roran's and Wrex's clients. We buy some of their stolen weaponry and when we come for the trade off…BAM!...we get them! That way, we get to 'speak' with them and Galactic Authorities have two less people on their most wanted list."

"Sounds like a plan," Ramirez admitted, "However, we can't bring Ratchet with us."

Ratchet turned around, angry. "What?! Why not?!"

"Because, you stand out more in a crowd. You're a Lombax, you're almost the last of your kind in this dimension."

"I want to be there, Ramirez," Ratchet growled, "Angela's my friend, and I want to help getting her back. I can use a holo-guise at the trade-off!"

Ramirez was stunned; Ratchet almost never says his last name. He crossed his arms and gave out a sigh. _I think he truly cares about her...I wonder if…_ Ramirez pondered. A tiny smile crept on his face when a small thought came to his mind, but it quickly disappeared and he said, "Fine, I'll ask the Authorities for holo-guises. Pvt. Ryan, I want you to make a message that Roran and Wrex would think it was a buyer."

Hours later…

"Captain! We have a call on one of our phones!" Ryan yelled. Ramirez walked up to Ryan. Then, Ryan passed Ramirez a phone.

Ramirez pressed the "talk" button on the phone and placed it against his ear. Through the speaker, a male voice asked, "So…what kind of 'merchandise' do you want, and how much?"

_It must be Roran_ Ramirez thought. "We're in desperate need for weapons. Can we buy all of your stock?" Ramirez asked.

The voice let out a sharp gasp and spoke to his associates in a different language. "Hmm…It…is possible," the voice replied, "However, my associates and I doubt that you can afford it; it would cost 20 million bolts." He then let out a small chuckle.

"We have the money, just tell us where we can make the trade off."

"You better not be pulling my leg. If you do have the bolts…meet us at the construction site of the Hotel Metropolis…at 3 o'clock this afternoon."

_That's in five hours_. "We'll see you there." Then he ended the phone conversation. He turned to his troops and ordered, "We got less than five hours 'till the trade off. Gear up and get ready."

Ryan asked, "How do you plan to get the money?"

Ratchet stepped up and answered, "Ramirez and I accumulated over 100 million bolts in the years. It's stored in my bank account."

Ryan stared at the two, amazed. "How did you get that much?!"

"We won a lot of tournaments," Ramirez replied. "We fought side-by-side in the 'impossible' challenges each stadium provided. It was brutal, but the rewards were in millions. I help increase our savings by winning in hover-bike championships."

"Believe me, he's really good," Ratchet admitted.

"Still the current, undefeated champion," Ramirez bragged.

"Anyway…"Ratchet interrupted, annoyed. "I'll get the money and the bags. Just in case, I'll place trackers on the bags; don't want to lose all that hard-earned cash. Everyone else, gear up!"


	7. Takedown

A/N: Okay, fair warning: there's going to be a lot of swearing.

* * *

Ratchet and Ramirez were waiting at the trade-off location. The "Hotel Metropolis" was destroyed when Emperor Tachyon invaded Metropolis. Mayor Sasha Phyronix, former Captain of the Galactic Rangers and Ratchet's ex-girlfriend, raised enough tax money to start the reconstruction of destroyed buildings. Ratchet and Ramirez were waiting on the recently constructed floor, which is approximately the 207th floor. Both of them were using holo-guises; Ratchet's disguise was a Blarg while Ramirez was a Novalian. The rest of the Task Force was in different positions. Five soldiers were positioned in different buildings, providing the two some sniper support. The rest were hiding somewhere in the construction site, lurking in the shadows ready to strike when given the order.

Soon, a huge hover-truck parked near them. The doors slid open. Wrex and 10 other Blarg rebels came out, all of them heavily armed. The Blargs, however, don't fit Roran's description. The Blargs brought out ten crates, which held all of their weapons.

Wrex stepped forward and "spoke" in Thyrrannese. His language consists of sounds, body movements, and gestures. One of the Blarg rebels went up and translated for Wrex. "Sorry that you couldn't meet the person on the phone. He has…some complications with another client at the market. Do you have the money?" Ramirez started to walk up with five duffel bags, until Wrex started to say something again. The translator soon continued, "Drop the bags and slide them over." Ramirez put the bags on the ground and, one-by-one, kicked them over to the smugglers. Once the bags reached them, Wrex checked each one to see if the cash was there. Once he confirmed that the money was there, Wrex ordered his assistants to bring the crates forward.

Before the crates could reach Ratchet and Ramirez, all of them heard some hover-ship's blades whirring in the air. They looked to the north and saw a Galactic Authority hover-ship.

"Wrex, you are under arrest!" the officer yelled through a speaker.

_I thought I told them to leave it to us!_ Ramirez yelled in his mind.

One of the Blargs opened one of the crates, reached into it, and took out a Negotiator rocket launcher. He armed it, aimed at the hover-ship, and fired. The hover-ship exploded in a fiery ball of light. The fiery wreckage fell into the fog below.

"Son of a bitch!" Ramirez cursed. He activated coms and ordered, "We've been compromised! Whatever you do, don't kill the Tyhrranioid!"

Soon the air echoed with the sounds of sniper fire. Mists of plasma sprayed across all of the Blargs' faces. The Blargs went limp, and collapsed. They lied on the ground with badly burnt, smoking faces. The air smelled of cooked meat. Wrex saw his troops die and he tried to escape. Ratchet anticipated this; he grabbed one of the dead trooper's Constructo pistol and fired at Wrex's leg. He went down and howled in pain.

"He's down..." Ratchet informed through the coms.

Later…

They took Wrex to the lower levels of the construction site. They entered one of the finished rooms, carrying jump-starter wires and a low voltage battery.

"Okay, troops, this is going to take time. I'll try to get Angela's location from him. I want all of you to split into teams of four, and find Roran alive if I don't get Angela's location from Wrex." Ramirez ordered. "Also, feel free to take anything from the crates, but think fast 'cause the transport is going to retrieve the crates soon."

Ratchet picked Pvt. Ryan, Sgt. Miller, and 1st Lt. Locke. Their designation is Alpha Squad. Taking Ramirez's advice, all of them went to the crates. They took Bomb Gloves, rocket launchers, tesla weapons, and more. Ratchet picked up a new GrummelNet weapon for the Constructo Series. A Construco Rifle has better accuracy and stopping power than the Constructo Pistol and it can use a multitude of attachments based on all three previous weapons. Inside the crates were many attachments for it. Different triggers, scopes, barrels, chambers, fragmentation ammo, silencers, upgrades, and more. Ratchet spent time customizing his Rifle. It now has a rapid-fire trigger, Bio-Scope, Lance Chamber, and a Galvanic paralyzing charge upgrade.

They all took alternative routes to the market; some took "borrowed" hovercars and some took the higher or lower skyways.

Once Ratchet's team reached the market, they saw it was crowded with civilians. They didn't see Roran anywhere. They were hidden in a dark alley way between buildings. Ratchet activated coms and asked Ramirez, "Louis, do you have the Cragmites' location?"

"Unfortunately, no, he doesn't know where they are. Roran is our last hope of finding Angela," Ramirez replied, "Find him and capture him unharmed. I'll check if this scum has any more information worth telling the Authorities."

Then Ratchet switched channels and told all teams, "We got civvies in the market, so watch your fire. Keep an eye out for a Blarg with a robotic left eye and arm." He then turned off coms and asked his team, "Anyone got any ideas on how to clear this area of civvies?"

1st Lt. Locke replied, "I got an idea, but we need to turn on and link up our HUDs."

Ratchet was taken back, he didn't check if _his_ HUD was on. "How do I turn on my HUD?"

"Didn't you read the manual that was in the armor's case?" Locke asked, dumbfounded. Ratchet shook his head. "Damn…this is a setback, but I think you can learn while on the field. Okay, system activation is by subconscious thought. Your helmet has a probe that is in contact with your neural brainwaves. Just think of turning your HUD on _will_ turn it on. It also affects your hover/gravity boots, ballistic-gauntlet blades, suit ability enhancers, and many other programs."

Taking Locke's advice, Ratchet thought of turning his HUD on, and it did. His visor is completely different now. On the top center was a compass bar, bottom center is the shield center is the shield bar, bottom left had three green circles bordered by blue, telling Ratchet's squad's condition, and weapon icon and ammo on the top right. Outlines of people were colored; blue is friendly teammate, red is hostile, green is civilian, and a target tagged by a tracer was gold.

"Thanks," Ratchet said. "Wait, I think I see Roran." Ratchet indeed saw Roran; his robotic arm gave him away. He was arguing with another Blarg in their native language.

Their helmets' internal translator program turned on. Through the helmet's internal speakers, Roran yelled, "I told you, Red Eclipse scumbags, I'm completely sold out!"

The other Blarg yelled, "That isn't an excuse! We need your supplies!"

Ratchet has heard about the Red Eclipse. They're a crime syndicate that rules the lower levels of Metropolis, the levels that are below the fog. Ryan took out a small tracer gun, and fired at Roran. It was silent and non-lethal. The tracer hit its mark and Roran didn't even felt it. His body is now bordered by gold.

"All teams, the High Importance Target is now marked," Ratchet informed the Task Force. "Do not fire on Roran." He then switched channels to talk to Ramirez. "Louis, we found Roran. You can get rid of Wrex now."

"Okay," Ramirez replied. A gunshot was then heard through the radio. "He won't be missed. I'll meet you at the market. Oscar Mike. Out." The radio then went silent.

Ratchet then turned to Locke and asked, "So what's your plan to clear this area?"

Locke changed his magazine for a blank round magazine and replied, "This." He then ran out of the alley and fired the blank rounds into the air. The civilians panicked and ran to cover. Roran and the Red Eclipse troops drew the weapons and aimed at Locke.

Since the area was mostly cleared of civilians, Ratchet armed his Constructo Rifle and barked through coms, "All teams open fire! Don't shoot Roran or straggling civilians!" The teams were positioned throughout the market. Some were able to give sniper support from buildings while other teams can give support on the ground.

Ratchet took cover behind a vendor stand. His shields made him tough, but not invincible. He popped out of cover, looked through the Bio-Scope, and fired. The Bio-Scope showed each target's unique weakness; a gap between armor plating, one-shot kills, and more. The Rifle's chamber allows the rifle to shoot plasma coated, armor-piercing bullets, allowing the user to kill more than one target or burn through armor and kill the person under the armor.

Soon, chaos erupted. Ratchet saw a Red Eclipse Trooper behind a vendor. Ratchet looked through the Bio-Scope, aimed for the troopers head, and fired. The Lance bolts burned through the vendor, penetrated the Trooper's head and exited through the back. Blood and brain matter covered the wall and floor near the corpse. Ramirez soon showed up and joined in the fight.

Meanwhile, a Red Eclipse Trooper snuck behind Pvt. Ryan. The Trooper placed his rifle under Ryan's chin and pulled. Even though Ryan's neck was covered by thin and light metal plating, he can still feel being choked.

"H-help!" Ryan managed to cry out.

Ratchet doesn't have a shot and ordered, "Miller, save Ryan's ass!"

Miller heard Ratchet's orders. He took careful aim at the trooper's thigh and fired. The trooper let go of Ryan and withered in pain on the ground. Then Ryan fired a coup de grâce into the trooper's head.

"Bastard…" Ryan growled.

Roran knew that he was outmatched, so he ran for it.

Ramirez saw and yelled, "The bastard's making a run for it! Don't let him get away!"

"I have a clear shot at his leg, sir!" Locke replied, "We could end this here!"

"No! We can't risk it!" Ramirez then looked at Ratchet and ordered, "Ratchet, we'll hold them off, you go after Roran and capture him unharmed! We'll help you when the market's clear!"

After firing a few more shots overhead, Ratchet replied, "Okay!"

Ramirez reloaded his ACR rifle and added, "On three! One…" Ratchet reloaded his Rifle. "Two…" Ratchet got ready to run from cover. "Three!" Ramirez popped out of cover and fired at the Red Eclipse. While they were distracted, Ratchet ran out of cover and chased Roran.

Ratchet followed Roran on the skyway. Roran would sometimes turn around and fire at Ratchet, but he would miss. Ratchet's instincts tell him to return fire, but he forced himself not to. There were too many civilians and he might kill Roran by mistake. Ratchet was almost on him, until a sniper took a shot to his chest. A plasma beam hit Ratchet directly at his chest, but the shields took most of the blast. Ratchet staggered back and saw the shield bar drop dramatically, almost half way. The sniper shot came from the higher level skyway, in front of the office building. Ratchet looked for anything that would show the sniper's position. Then he saw a flash of light as the light was reflected off of the sniper scope. Ratchet fired at the flash of light and saw an Eclipse trooper fall of. Now that the sniper was taken care of, Ratchet continued with his pursuit.

While running after Roran, Ratchet heard Ramirez's voice through the radio. "Ratchet, the market's clear. We'll make sure Roran doesn't double back!"

"Understood," Ratchet replied, "I had a close call from snipers. Keep an eye out on the higher skyways and the buildings." He then cut off communication.

After a few minutes of pursuit, Roran reached two paths. There was a path to the left and a path in the middle. He took the middle path. When Ratchet reached the crossroads, he uploaded a map into his visor. The two paths lead to an office building, but the left path was shorter.

Ramirez caught up with Ratchet and asked, "Which way?"

"They both lead to the same building," Ratchet replied, "You take the middle path; make sure he doesn't double back. I'll take the shorter path and cut him off from escape."

"Okay."

Ramirez went through the middle path while Ratchet went to the left path. Ratchet ran as fast as he could, trying to cut off Roran from escape. All he heard was his own panting, gun fire, explosions, and civilians screaming. However, he did not see the rocket trooper that was hiding behind a low wall. The trooper fired at Ratchet, and the rocket hit him in the chest. Ratchet was knocked off his feet and landed on his back. Ratchet's vision fogged for a bit, and then it cleared up. He saw the shield bar empty, blinking red. He heard a soft alarm. Ratchet quickly got up and killed the trooper.

Ratchet's shield then regenerated and he managed to reach the office building before Roran. He hid behind one of the pillars in front of the main door. He saw Roran running towards the door with Ramirez right behind him. When Roran was about to reach the door, Ratchet stepped out of cover and tackled him to the ground. They wrestled on the ground and Roran was swearing in his native language.

Ramirez reached them and grabbed Roran by the hair then he elbowed his spine. Roran suffered a temporary paralysis. His eye looked at them in fear.

"Roran is secured, everyone fallback to our location," Ramirez said through the radio.

Ratchet got up and said, "The area is too hot to interrogate him now. We're going to get surrounded by the Red Eclipse. We need to get out of here and find a safe place to interrogate him."

"I know, it has to be secured and with people we trust…"

They pondered at the question, and at the same time, they yelled, "The Phoenix!"


	8. Escaping the Hornet's Nest

The Task Force eventually reached the office building and dug in. They barricaded the doors and used the furniture to use as cover. Snipers were positioned in the top floors and everyone else guarded the sky ways that were connected to the building. However, they were civilians in the building. Accountants, front desk clerks, and even the CEO were trapped in there with the Task Force.

"Ratchet, do you still have the Phoenix's radio frequency?" Ramirez asked.

"Yes, I think I still have it…" Ratchet replied. Before he changed radio frequencies, there was an explosion on one of the skyways. "Son of a Quark!" Ratchet cursed as he ducked his head. "Ramirez, you got to hold them off while I'll get on the horn."

"Affirmative," Ramirez replied. He then opened coms to his team and ordered, "You heard him; we have to give him some cover fire!"

Soon, the Task Force returned fire at the Red Eclipse. The civilians were cowering behind cover, thinking that this is the last day of their lives.

A Novalian accountant placed his hands on top of his head and cried, "I don't want to die!"

Sgt. Miller heard him and yelled, "You're all going to make it; we're trying to get the Phoenix here!"

Hearing the news of the Galactic Rangers coming to help seemed to calm him and everyone else down a bit.

Ratchet was about to change radio frequencies, until some employee at a phone business came in. "Hello, we at the Gadgetron phone service would like to inform you that your phone service has expired. Would you like to extend your service now?"

"You've got to be friggin' kidding me!" Ratchet yelled dumbfounded. "Can't you hear the gun fire and the explosions?! I need to call the Galactic Rangers now!!"

"I'm sorry, but business is business. Do you want to extend your service now?"

Ratchet looked at the civilians and asked, "Does anyone here have a credit card?!" The male Cazar CEO reached into his pants pocket and tossed his wallet to Ratchet. Ratchet took out one of the CEO's credit cards and replied to the phone service employee, "I have a…a Discover card…and the serial number is *serial number withheld*."

"Thank you for your purchase. Would you like to upgrade to the Prestige Package?" the employee continued to ask.

"NO!"

Then he heard one of the robot Ranger's voices in the radio. "This is Sgt. XK-209, who is this?"

"This is Ratchet, you know, the 'Sarge'!"

"Oh, hey there commander, how are you do—."

"Would you shut up and listen to me!" Ratchet interrupted. "We're under attack by the Red Eclipse in Metropolis! We have civilians and need an immediate extraction at these coordinates!"

"I-I'll inform the Captains!" There was a pause for brief moment and he returned. "Okay, we're coming. ETA is 10 minutes!"

"Okay!" Ratchet then turned to the civilians and yelled, "The Rangers are coming in 10 minutes! Keep your heads down and wait for them!" He then turned his attention to the Red Eclipse and returned fire.

Soon, a hover pickup truck armed with a mounted plasma turret arrived. It parked 20 meters away from the main entrance and fired. The soldiers ducked behind cover. Ramirez popped his head out of cover for a split-second and ducked.

"We got a technical at the main entrance!" He then picked up a M21 ERB plasma sniper rifle and tossed it to Ratchet. "Ratchet, go to the higher levels and take that thing out! We'll draw its fire!"

Ratchet quickly ran up four floors by stairs. He positioned himself behind a window and saw another technical show up. It was parked on the right of the first technical. Ratchet pulled the charging lever and released it. He looked through the scope and panned left and right between the two turrets. Once he was confident that he could take them out, he held his breath to steady his aim. He aimed for the trooper's head on the left technical and squeezed the trigger. He saw a mist of plasma sprayed across the Trooper's face. Ratchet then panned right and did the same for the other trooper. Once the technicals were taken care of, Ratchet decided to stay up there and give sniper support.

After reloading the M21 ERB, he heard two new voices in the radio. "This is Merc…"

"And Green, Ratchet. We're coming to help!"

Ratchet then realized that Merc and Green were the war bots that fought with him and Ramirez in the Dreadzone competition.

"Merc…Green?! You're guys are in command of the Galactic Rangers?!" Ratchet asked surprised. Ramirez heard the transmission and was surprised as well.

"We'll catch up on life later," Green interrupted, "We're sending transports and air support to your position."

Ramirez changed radio frequencies and asked them, "Is the Phoenix's artillery cannons active?"

"Yes, Louis," Merc replied.

"Okay! Fire mission—target package Romeo—danger close!" Ramirez ordered.

"But that's within 100 meters of your position, Louis!" Green interjected.

"That's not a suggestion! Send it!"

There was a small pause, and then Green replied, "Roger, fire mission danger close!"

Ramirez switched radio frequency to the Task Force's frequency and yelled, "Brace yourselves, incoming friendly artillery!"

Everyone ducked in cover as the shells impacted on the sky ways in front of the main entrance. The skyways collapsed and any Red Eclipse that were on them fallen into the fog bellow. As the dust settled, Ranger transports appeared in the back of the building three floors above.

Ramirez got up and yelled to his team and the civilians, "Get to the 278th floor, now!"

They quickly but calmly went up the flight of stairs to the 278th floor. There was transport waiting, its back in front of the window. Ramirez shot through the window and then the transport lowered its rear ramp.

"Civilians go first!" Ramirez ordered.

About 40 civilians were able to fit in the first transport. It took at least five more transports to get all of the civilians out of the area. The sniper teams kept on firing on surviving Red Eclipse outside. Soon, their own transports arrived. Ratchet barely stepped inside when the transport started to leave. He was standing on the edge of the ramp when a Red Eclipse Rocket Trooper fired at the transport. It did little damage when it impacted, but it caused Ratchet to lose his balance. He dropped his rifle inside and fell off.

Ramirez saw him and cried out, "RATCHET!!!"

Ratchet was falling towards a sky way beneath him. He quickly activated his hover boots and floated down to the Skyway.

Once Ratchet's feet were planted on the skyway, he heard Ramirez's voice in the radio. "Ratchet, Ratchet, you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I landed on the skyway that's connected to the back entrance of the office building. I'm coming back up!"

"Ratchet we can see them, dozens of them! You have to get back up and jump back inside the transport! They're going to be Eclipse troopers inside the building, so get one of your gauntlet blades out!"

Ratchet thought of ejecting the blade in his right arm and it did. The blade was extremely sharp and it was half a foot long. It intensifies the light that it reflected. Ratchet ran to the entrance and pushed the doors open. Immediately he faced an Eclipse trooper. Ratchet jumped and tackled the trooper to the ground. Once Ratchet was on top of him, Ratchet drove the blade under the trooper's chin. The blade penetrated the trooper's brain…instant death. Ratchet pulled the blade out and flicked the gore off the blade and continued on his way to the stair-well.

Through the radio, Ratchet managed to hear the pilot said, "We're almost at Bingo fuel."

Then Ramirez's voice came through the radio, frantic. "Ratchet, we're running on fumes here. You have to hurry!"

Once he reached the stairwell, Ratchet saw that he was ten stories below the transport. Then, he heard a huge explosion and he nearly lost his balanced. "What the hell?!" Ratchet yelled.

"Ratchet! You've got to get out of there!" Ramirez warned, "We can see them! They're bombing the support beams; they're trying to collapse the building…with you inside it!"

"Make the transport wait nine floors below at the west side of the building!" Ratchet ordered.

Ratchet quickly ran up the flight of stairs one floor above. During this run, more explosions occurred. He almost lost his balance, but he grabbed the railings and continued running. Once he reached the floor, he saw the transport with its rear platform lowered and in front of the windows on the west side. He started to run, until the final bomb went off. The building started to sway. Ratchet didn't have time left. He activated his hover boots and raced towards the ramp. Once he was five feet away, Ratchet tucked his head to his chest and jumped. His shoulder hit the glass and it shattered. He flew through the air and he reached for the ramp. He grabbed the ramp and was hanging on for dear life as the transport flew away from the building. Ramirez went to the ramp and helped Ratchet up. Once Ratchet was pulled inside, he and Ramirez saw the building collapse. It leaned towards the left and it crashed into another building, killing any one inside. Both of the buildings then collapsed…everyone in or around the buildings perished under the rubble.

Ratchet and Ramirez had one thing in their mind. They were thinking of the same thing. They looked at each for a brief moment, then back at the carnage. Together, they murmured, "Sasha's going to be pissed…"


	9. Seeking Allies

A/N: Wow...I'm on a roll here. This chapter will bring back familiar characters from the series. I also introduced another original character in here. Enjoy and please review.

* * *

Inside the transport, Ramirez placed his helmet on his lab and he rubbed down his face with his hand. "Ryan…how many casualties and how much damage did we caused?" Ramirez asked as he rubbed his temples.

Ryan was hacking the police files in his visor. "Preliminary results…15,000 Red Eclipse and 10,000 civilians dead…and about 10 million bolts worth of damage…results are not yet final…"

The news caused a pang of sorrow in Ramirez's mind. _So much innocent lives lost…just to find one man?_ Ramirez thought unhappily. _Was this fight really worth it?_ He quickly dismissed the thoughts from his mind; his mind has to be combat ready. "Pilot, how long till we reach the Phoenix?"

The robotic pilot looked over his shoulder and replied, "ETA is a minute."

Ratchet then asked Ramirez, "So we're going to get Roran to spill his guts when we get to the Phoenix?"

Ramirez looked at Ratchet and replied, "Yes, we will. However, I promised one of my friends to do an interrogation if I need to, and I intend to keep it."

Locke, who couldn't have helped by listening, interjected, "Wait…do you mean Task Force: Specter? You're going to let them join our op?"

"Yes, Locke," Ramirez replied. "Their commanding officer always gets the person to talk, without fail and can tell the difference if the person is telling the truth or telling a lie. Also, I don't know how many Cragmites we're going to face, so we need all the help we can get."

"Good idea, Louis," Ratchet admitted, "However, can we go back to Veldin? We can get some weapons from our vault."

"Hmm…sure, I think we can do that."

Soon, they saw the Starship Phoenix. It was still in its pride and glory. Seeing the Phoenix brought back some happy memories to Ramirez and Ratchet, and awe and amazement to the other Task Force members.

"Look at that, Ryan," Locke murmured, "This ship is amazing!"

Ratchet heard him and gave a small chuckle, "That's almost exactly what I said when I saw the Phoenix."

Soon, the transport docked inside the Starship Phoenix. One by one, the Leviathans stepped outside, with Roran bound and gagged. They saw a line of robot Rangers standing at attention besides them. In front of the Leviathans were two war bots, heavily armored, and have thrusters instead of legs.

Ramirez stepped forward and shook Merc's and Green's hand. "It's good to see you two again."

"It's been a long time, Louis," Green said, "Heard about all of the accomplishments that you and Ratchet did after Dreadzone.

Ratchet stepped forward and asked, "When did you two become the Captains of the Galactic Rangers?"

"After we retired from working in Galaxy Burger; the customers just wanted to have our autographs and a chance to have a picture. It was pretty hectic," Merc replied, "After two years of retirement, we finally got bored. However, Mayor Sasha heard about us and gave us the chance to be the Captains for the Galactic Rangers. Of course, we accepted."

"When we first got here, all of the Rangers were out of shape," Green complained, "They were scared to fight, spineless in organic words. We took the time to reshape these troops. Now, they're the best troops I've ever seen." He then crossed his arms and asked Ramirez, suspiciously, "What kind of trouble are you two in now?"

Ramirez knew that this was coming. He told them what was going on and why they fought the Red Eclipse in Metropolis.

"So you're going to need our help?" Merc asked.

"Yes," Ramirez replied, "Can you set a course to the Kyzil Plateau, Veldin? We need to get some weapons from Ratchet's home."

"Of course," Green replied. He then opened coms and ordered, "Attention all personnel, set a course to Kyzil Plateau, Veldin."

Sgt. Miller then stepped forward and asked, "Do you have an interrogation room?" Merc nodded and motioned two Rangers to take Roran to the room. "Also, do you have a fabrication room? We are running low on magazines."

"Sure, take the elevator two floors down, second room on the right side," Merc answered. The rest of the Leviathans, except Ramirez and Ratchet, left to make their ammo. "Louis, Ratchet, you can relax or do other tasks while we're traveling to Veldin."

The two left and went to their old quarters. The vidscreen, VG-9000, couch, bunks, and the jungle décor were still there. While Ratchet was playing the VG-9000, Ramirez opened coms to call in the friend he was talking about.

"Come on…pick up…"Ramirez murmured.

Soon, there was a female voice that came from the radio. "This is Captain Pelayo of Task Force: Specter. Who is this?"

"Hey Grace, it's me Louis," Ramirez answered back.

"Oh hey there, Louis!" Grace cried out happily. "What do you need?"

"I need your help…" Louis then told her what has happened. "Do you think your Task Force could help us?"

"Of course, we're more than happy to. However, I get to do the interrogation on this Roran guy, right?"

"Yes, Grace. I'm transmitting the coordinates for where we can pick you up…and Grace?"

"Yes?" she asked curious.

There was a small pause, and then Ramirez added, "It's good to hear from you again." Then he cut off communication.

Ratchet couldn't help himself; he listened to the entire conversation. "Got a girlfriend Louis?" he asked teasingly.

Ramirez looked at him and his faced turned red. "Shut up, Ratchet…"

About 30 minutes later, they exited hyperspace and stopped in Veldin's orbit. Outside, there was another transport waiting for the Phoenix. Ramirez went to the com room and tried to make contact.

***

Earlier…

"Do you think that Ramirez will be here Captain?" a Specter asked.

Grace looked at the Private and replied, "He'll be here."

Task Force: Specters were in their own transport, above Veldin's orbit. Soon they saw the Starship Phoenix exit hyperspace. All of them were wide-eyed and had gaping mouths.

"Holy…is that Ramirez's ship?!" a Sergeant asked.

"I guess so…"Grace replied.

Then, Ramirez's face appeared in their console.

"Hello Task Force: Specter. The docking area is in the back of the Phoenix. You have clearance to enter," Ramirez said.

Grace turned to her troops and ordered, "You heard him, let's dock inside!"

The pilot nodded and took the controls.

Later…

Ratchet and Ramirez were waiting at the docking area for the Specters. They held their helmets under their arms. Soon the transport entered the hull and docked inside. The side doors opened and, one-by-one, the Specters stepped outside. Their armor was the same as the Leviathan's. They stood and looked around the ship in awe. Their commanding officer disabled the locks on her helmet and took the helmet off. She had crystal blue eyes and brunette hair.

Captain Grace Pelayo walked up to Ramirez. Then, she leaned forward gave a light kiss to Ramirez. Ramirez's face turned red when she did this. When Ratchet saw this…he felt…jealous? _Where did that come from?_ Ratchet asked in his mind. _Maybe…I feel jealous because he has a girlfriend? _Ratchet shook his head to get rid of the thoughts in his head.

"Grace…" Ramirez managed to whine, "Not in front of Ratchet…"

She parted her kiss and complained, "Oh, come on Louis…it's been over five months since our last date…" She then saw Ratchet and walked towards him. "So you're Ratchet, eh?" She extended her hand out and added, "It's an honor to meet you."

Ratchet took her hand and shook it. "Likewise, ma'am," Ratchet replied.

Then on the Phoenix's intercom, Green said, "Uh…Ratchet, a certain someone is coming over, and apparently she's not happy."

Ratchet was confused at first, but the realization dawned on him. "Oh…crap…"

Soon, a limo hover car appeared. It flew through the dock entrance and landed. The doors opened and a female Cazar walked out. It was Sasha Phyronix. She wore her old purple-black jumpsuit. She walked towards Ratchet, and by the way she balled her fists and carried a frown, she wasn't happy.

When she reached Ratchet, she gave him a slap across the face. Hard. Ratchet didn't avoid it; he felt worse pain. However…it still hurt. "What the hell were you doing?!" Sasha yelled, "You got over 10,000 people dead and caused over 10 million bolts worth of damage! You better have a good reason for all this!"

"Sasha, how did you find us?" Ramirez asked.

"I still have connections with the Rangers, Louis," Sasha replied. She then looked at Ratchet and added, "Well?"

Did he want to tell her the truth? There was no way out of it. She could detect a lie within 100 miles. "Sasha…" Ratchet began, "One my friends is kidnapped by Cragmites. We were trying to capture Roran and Wrex because they were the Cragmites suppliers. We were supposed to capture them at the trade-off, but then Galactic Authorities came and screwed everything up. We told them to leave it to us. Then…everything went to hell after that." Sasha didn't even changed expressions; she still had her arms crossed and stared at him angrily. "Sasha, please…you have to understand…if we don't find the Cragmites…they'll probably kill her…"

_HER?! _What Ratchet has said hit home. They've broken up after the Dreadzone incident—because Big Al unintentionally mentioned Ratchet was eyeing other women—and Ratchet has found another girl. _Why am I so upset about this? _Sasha asked in her mind.

"Sasha…I know that you probably still hate me…but can you help us?" Ratchet asked.

"Is that an order?" Sasha asked in a threatening tone.

"I'm asking you as a friend, Sasha," Ratchet replied, "I might need Merc and Green when we assault the Cragmites' location. I need someone who can command the Phoenix while we're on the ground. Please, would you do it?"

In truth, she wanted to do this. Even though she was Cazar, which many believed to be great politicians, she missed the action. She's still not quiet used to governmental politics, yet. She gave out a sigh and murmured, "Fine, I'll do it."

Ratchet gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Sasha."

"Okay, now that all of us are acquainted…" Ramirez interjected, "Ratchet and I will get any weapons from his home. In the mean time Grace, interrogate Roran and get the Cragmites' location, no matter what."

Grace went back to her transport and came out, carrying a steel brief-case. "Oh, I will…" she replied with a grin on her face and a hint of glee in her voice.

_She must _really _enjoy her work…_Ratchet thought.

Soon, Ratchet, Ramirez, and two other Leviathans took a transport to Kyzil Plateau, Veldin. Once they landed near Ratchet's garage, Ratchet and Ramirez entered the subterranean home while the other Leviathans stood guard outside.

Inside, Ratchet entered the pass-code for the vault and together they entered. There were rows and cabinets filled with assorted weapons, gadgets, and armor. Ratchet went to his old Omega Raptor submachine pistols and picked one of them up. Even though he was disgusted at the Dreadzone competition—the way they pit hero against hero—but he still liked the weapons they had. The Raptors were powerful when customized. He decided to bring them, so he placed them in his side holsters.

Ramirez went to the sniper rifle row and picked up the Omega Plasma Slayer. It was a combination of a crossbow and a sniper. This was Ramirez's personal favorite, due to its bio-scope. It had great stopping power; most of his shots were one-shot kills. He thinks it would be a valuable tool in the incoming fight, so he decided to bring it.

Then, they both went to the super-weapon racks. They saw their ultimate weapons of mass destruction; the RYNO series and the Omega Supernova. Both of them wanted to bring at least one of the weapons.

"So…which one do you want to bring, Ratchet?" Ramirez asked."

"Well the Supernova was powerful than the RYNOCIRATOR and below, but I bet the ion cannons are now disabled," Ratchet replied, "I don't think the Omega RYNO 4-Ever is good because it's very inaccurate, so it wastes a lot of ammo."

"So we take the Omega RYNO 5, then?"

Ratchet then grabbed the RYNO 5 off the rack and replied, "Yeah."

Meanwhile, outside…

The two Leviathans that were staying guard were playing cards when they saw a limo descending towards their location. They quickly grabbed their weapons from the ground and waited to see who's in the limo. After the limo landed, the doors opened and two small robots stepped out. They were almost the same; their height was about a small backpack, the antennae, and the storage cavity on their lower abdomens. The only difference was that one had green 'eyes' while the other had blue.

The green eyed robot saw the troops and was in shock. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

The Leviathans then saw that the robots were friendly, so they put down their weapons. One of them replied, "Sorry, we're just doing our job. We're under the command of Cpt. Ramirez and Ratchet, so please move—"

"Wait…" the blue eyed robot interrupted, "Did you say Ramirez and Ratchet? We know them. In fact, I'm Clark and the other is Clank. I bet Louis told you about us…did he?"

"Well why didn't you say so?" the other Leviathan exclaimed. He then opened coms and said, "Hey Captain! The two robots you told us about are here! You know: Clank and Clark?"

Soon they heard hurried steps inside the house. Then they saw Ratchet and Ramirez run out of the garage, beaming with joy. The two ran to their respective robot companions, kneeled, and gave them a hug.

Ratchet released his embrace on Clank and asked, "How did you two get back so early? I thought the shooting won't end till next week?"

Once Ramirez let go of his embrace, Clark replied, "We heard about Angela on the news and the fight at Metropolis. We told the director we had some personal business that needed to be taken care of."

"Well, he did say that we have to be back within five days…" Clank added solemnly.

"Oh…" Ratchet murmured sadly, "Well, now that all four of us are back, we can carry more weapons in your storage cavity."

"What are we going to do, Ratchet?" Clark asked.

Then Ratchet's face became grave. "We're going to assault the Cragmites and rescue Angela…"

Then on the radio, they heard Grace's voice. "Guys, you have to come back!" She sounded frantic. "I've discovered the Cragmites' location, but I have bad news…"

* * *

A/N: The next chapter is going to be Grace's interrogation session. I have to warn you though, it's going to be brutal and merciless and a scene will be a bit of a shocker.


	10. Infliction

A/N: I made an allusion or a reference to another game. If you played it when it came out, you should get it when you read it.

* * *

Earlier…

"Okay, now that all of us are acquainted…" Ramirez interjected, "Ratchet and I will get any weapons from his home. In the mean time Grace, interrogate Roran and get the Cragmites' location, no matter what."

Grace went back to her transport and came out, carrying a steel brief-case. "Oh, I will…" she replied with a grin on her face and a hint of glee in her voice. She watched the two entered one of the transports and leave. _I hope they bring some good weapons back…_Grace hoped. She turned to one of the Rangers and asked, "Where's the interrogation room?" The Ranger then led her to the elevator, went down one floor, and to the first door on the right. Inside was a room similar to a police observation room; a door that leads to the interrogation room and a one way window. She saw Roran strapped to a chair and unconscious.

The Ranger then mentioned, "Roran was giving us some problems…so we had to sedate him. He should wake up in a few minutes."

"Don't worry…I know how to wake him up." Grace replied. She opened the door and entered the room. She placed her brief-case on the ground and walked up to Roran. More Rangers entered the observation room, anxious to see how she'll wake him up. She slapped Roran across the face. Then she looked at the window, swearing that she could hear the Rangers laughing. It didn't wake him up, so Grace did another slap, but harder. _That _managed to wake him up. He looked around in fear and tried to move his limbs, but unfortunately for him, they were strapped to the chair. He then noticed Grace was standing in front of him. "Good, you're finally awake," Grace said, "As you can tell; I'm not with the Galactic Authorities."

"Yeah right," Roran replied dismissively, "You strap me to a chair in the Starship Phoenix, which is part of the Galactic Authorities, and you're telling me that you're not—"

Grace interrupted him by slapping the side of his head and threatened, "Yes, I'm not of the Authorities. You have some information that I need, and you're going to tell me. Every lie that you tell me…you lose a piece of yourself."

"You're bluffing!"

"Oh am I?" She then opened her brief-case and showed its contents to Roran. It held torturing devices: blades, pliers, stun batons, the such. She picked up a pair of pliers and added, "Want a demonstration?" She forced Roran's mouth open and placed the pliers in it, with a tooth between them. Then with a slight tug, she pulled the tooth out. Roran screamed in agony and blood was dripping down his mouth. "Now you know what I'm meant. Now, your clients, the Cragmites, where are they?"

Then he did what Grace didn't expect; he laughed. "The Cragmites?" he asked after he gave a small chuckle. "I should have figured it has to do with that Lombax that they have."

Grace was stunned, _How does he know about Angela?_ She grabbed a small scalpel from the brief-case and held it against his throat. "How do you know about this?"

He gave a small chuckle, and replied, "In our last meeting, they gave me a data-chip; told me to hang on to it. I couldn't help myself, so I checked it out. You should see what I mean."

Grace searched his pockets and found a data chip for a PDA. She quickly left the rooms and grabbed her PDA from her duffel bag in her transport. Once she inserted it into the PDA, there was a message. It says: You can only WATCH. The word "watch" has a link, so when she opened it, it led to some sort of video. She saw a female Lombax wearing an orange jumpsuit with her hands behind her and bound by a pair of kinetic handcuffs._That must be Angela…_Grace hypothesized. What caught Grace's eye was the thing surrounding the Lombax's neck; a collar. Then, without warning, the collar caused a surge of electricity enter Angela. She scream in agony as she was being electrocuted. _It's a damn shock collar!_ The surge lasted for five seconds and there was a five second rest. During that break Angela panted in pain, and then the shock came back.

"Please!" Angela begged in pain, "Stop! No more!" When the surge stopped, she let out heart-breaking sobs. Even Grace started to feel pain in her in heart and tears were forming in her eyes. Then, there was one more surge. Angela screamed out his name: "RATCHET, P-PLEASE, HELP ME!!!" Then the video ended and it returned to the message.

Grace clenched her jaw and her right hand. _The Cragmites know we're coming…_Grace feared. Then she remembered that Roran watched this and took pleasure of gloating about it. _That's it…the bastard just made a fatal mistake._ She marched back to the interrogation room. When she got back, she grabbed a scalpel and drove it deep into Roran's left thigh. Roran screamed in pain. Grace grabbed his jaw and held his face in place so he can see the rage in her face. "Where are they, dammit!?!"

"Do what you want," Roran murmured, "I'll consider this payback for the other Lombax for blowing my arm off."

_That's it! I have to get the information now! _Grace snapped. She crouched in front of him and hissed, "You know what? Back in 2011, there was a Journalist that was doing an investigation on a serial killer. She met one of his accomplices; a club owner with a rap sheet. When she got him strapped to a chair, she made him spill his guts about the killer. Do you know what she did?!" Then, she grabbed Roran's…um…lower extremities in a vice-like grip. "She did this!!" _Thank God that my hand is armored plated! _Then she eyed the window, swearing that she could hear the Rangers screaming in shock.

Roran then howled in pain; pain he never experienced yet. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Grace then tightened her grip. "Tell me where they are or I'll friggin' crush them!"

Finally, Roran caved in. "ARGH….ZORDOOM PRISON! MY SHIPMENTS WERE ALWAYS SENT TO THAT PLACE!! I-I SWEAR IT!!"

Grace was satisfied with his answer. She released her grip and got up. "Good…was that so hard?" Then she reached for her M9 pistol in her side holster. She brought it up, loaded the chamber, and aimed right between Roran's eyes.

Roran cringed in fear. "W-wait! I thought you're going to let me go!?" Roran asked.

"Due to that video and you liking it…you're life's forfeit," Grace replied coldly. She then pulled the trigger. She then walked back into the observation room and stared at the Rangers. Even though they were robotic, they backed away in fear. "Get that room cleaned up…" Grace ordered. She then opened coms and tried to get Ratchet and Ramirez on the horn. When she was connected, she yelled frantically, "Guys, you have to come back! I have the Cragmites' location, but I have bad news…"

Later…

Ratchet, Ramirez, Clank, and Clark returned to Veldin immediately after Grace send out the message. They stood in front of Grace, who had her arms crossed and she stared at Ratchet with sadness.

"Grace, what's wrong?" Ratchet asked.

"Ratchet…I don't think you can handle this…" Grace warned softly. She connected her PDA to a vidscreen and showed the message. She hesitantly opened the link again.

Ratchet's heart was stuck in his throat when he saw Angela.

He heard her frightened voice, "What?! Again?!"

"Oh my God…" Grace gasped. This was different than the first time she watched it. "It's a live feed…"

When the electric surge came in, she let out more heart-breaking screams. "ANGELA!!" Ratchet cried out. He instinctively reached out with his hand, thinking that he could actually save her. Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks. "Leave her alone, you bastards!"

During the second break, Angela managed to gasp, "Don't click on the link, Ratchet! It activates the collar!" Then she continued with lament of cries when the shock returned. Then the video ended.

Ratchet's knees gave way. His cries became more strong and frequent. Eventually, he soft cries became lamenting sobs. He didn't see Sasha run up towards him, hearing his sobs and trying to find out what was going.

When she reached him, she asked worried, "Ratchet's what's going on?!" He didn't reply and continued with his cries. She gently placed her arm behind his head and gently placed his head on her right shoulder. She couldn't let her personal feelings about the breakup affect her right now; Ratchet's in deep pain. She can feel Ratchet's tears seeping through the cloth.

"Sasha, would you do me a favor?" Clank asked softly, "Would take Ratchet to the Mess Hall and get him a drink?"

"Sure thing," Sasha replied. She help Ratchet get up and guided him to the mess area. His cries have decreased somewhat.

"We're going to make them pay, Ratchet," Ramirez whispered when he was gone. He rubbed his face with his hand. _This explains the virus-program in the Cragmites' ship...they want us to find them._ He then faced Grace and asked, "Where are they?"

"I've already told the pilot where. We're going to Zordoom Prison," Grace replied.

Later…

They've reached the Polaris Galaxy and the world of Viceron in ten hours, since the Polaris Galaxy was on the far-side of the universe. They all gathered in the command room at the front of the Phoenix. Ryan was hacking the Architectural Mainframe to get the blue prints of the prison, Sasha was getting satellite photos of the prison, and Ramirez was creating a plan with Merc, Green, Clank, and Clark.

Ramirez looked up from a map of the area and saw Ratchet walk in. He looks exhausted; blood-shot eyes and bags under his eyes. He then realized that Ratchet has been up for almost a day; he's probably still not used to staying up for days. "Hey Ratchet," Ramirez called out, "Take a rest, we need you to be at your best when the time comes." Ratchet was about to object, but Ramirez interrupted, "We need you to be focused on the mission, and you being tired is a danger to the mission. When we're done with recon, we'll let you know."

"Why recon?!" Ratchet asked, "The more we wait, there's a more likely chance that she's dead!"

"If we go in there blind, we could lose a lot of people. We could lose anyone in this room if we do. I don't want that to happen. What good would it do if we rescue Angela but you're dead? Now please, go to your quarters and take a rest."

Ratchet didn't like it, but it's the most reasonable solution. Plus the rest was too good to refuse. He just turned around and exited the room. He was hoping to get some good rest, but a good rest is the last thing Ratchet will get in this time.

* * *

A/N: Now you know what I meant from the last chapter. Also, did I make Ratchet a bit too depressed?


	11. Here Without You

A/N: This is my first shot in a Romance based chapter. I would also like to thank Yue Twili for helping me by reviewing this chapter first before release. Thank you for telling me it that it's excellent, hooah! Also, I would like to hear more feedback from you readers. I'm always open for constructive criticism and suggestions, but please, don't write anything harsh.

P.S. For those that read the previous chapter, but didn't get what I meant...Roran's torture scene was inspired by the game Heavy Rain. Also, I've put in real-life games and movies in this chapter. I don't own them and they're owned by their respective owners.

Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Ratchet stood in a void entirely made of darkness. He couldn't see what was in front of him, but he walked forward. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't know why. His heart rate increased in fear as he didn't see his path. Then, he heard a splat; he stepped on something wet or on a puddle. He stepped back, wondering what he stepped on. Then a dim pillar of light lightened a small area around him. He looked at his foot. He saw it was covered in blood. His heart-rate spiked, he didn't want to look up…but he had to. Slowly, he gaze went up. He saw a pool of blood…and in the middle of that pool was Angela's bloodied and broken corpse. Ratchet saw that she suffered from multiple fractures, which were non-fatal. Then he saw a quarter size exit wound over her heart. She was shot through the heart…instant death.

His knees collapsed, his pants soaking her blood. Tears were forming in his eyes. He yelled her name, but no sound came from his mouth. He gently raises her up. Her head went limp and fell back. Ratchet placed one hand behind her head and gently placed on his chest. He did muted sobs on her shoulder. His hands were covered with her blood. He then looked towards the sky and screamed out her name…

"ANGELA!!!!" Ratchet yelled as he bolted up on his bed. He panted and he looked around his cabin. The lights were lowered so he could sleep. He panted and wiped the sweat off his brow. He then looked at his hands; saw that there was no blood. _The blood felt…so real…_ Ratchet thought. He then looked at a wall clock and saw that it was only two hours after they reached Viceron. _I don't want to go through that nightmare again…_ Then he started to feel a headache and he felt a bit warm. _Maybe a quick shower will help._

He slowly got up and went to the cabin's bathroom. He took off his clothes, turned on the shower, and entered. He felt exhausted, so he braced himself by placing his hands on the wall in front of him. He felt the warm water run down his back. His headache started to fade and his temperature was decreasing. He let a relieving sigh and turned off the shower. His headache went away, but he still felt depressed on what happened to Angela. He dried himself and put on a new set of clothes.

He returned to his quarters and sat on the couch, lost in thought. The atmosphere felt melancholy. Ratchet remembered the days when he was in a bad mood, but Angela was there to cheer him up…

* * *

Ratchet opened the door to Clank's apartment in Megaopolis, entered, closed the door, and collapsed in the sofa. He returned after shooting a new series of movies called "Secret Agent Clank". Clank was the main star, while Ratchet was just the chauffer. He didn't like it. The director kept on insulting him and called him Weasel Boy all the time. Clank stayed behind to finish the rest of the shooting. He won't return for about half a week. Ramirez and Clark went back to Earth to be interviewees at a talk show. They won't be back for a day. Ratchet just wanted to go to sleep, let the day pass on, until someone knocked at the door. Ratchet let out a frustrated groan and got up to answer the door. When he opened the door, he was expecting to see one of Clank's fans or some kind of door-to-door salesman, but standing in front of the door was someone else he trusted.

"Angela?" Ratchet asked surprised, "I thought you had to work at Megacorp?"

She smiled back and replied, "Well I'm done with my shift, so I decided to make a visit."

"Oh." Ratchet stepped aside and added, "Please come in." Once she stepped inside, Ratchet closed and locked the door. Over his shoulder, he asked, "Do you want a drink?"

Angela took a seat at one end of the couch and replied, "Just a glass of water is fine."

Ratchet went to the kitchen at one side of the room and grabbed two glasses. He filled one glass with ice-cold water, while the other he filled with his drink of Cola with crushed ice. He returned to the living room and gave Angela her drink. Ratchet took his seat on the other side of the couch. Ratchet was still upset about earlier in the day. He barely said a word and just drank in silence.

Angela noticed this. His shoulders were tense and he carried a frown on his face. "Ratchet, what's wrong?" she asked worried.

Ratchet then looked at her. He saw that she was really worried; she cared about him. The two had a friendly relationship after the Protopet scandal. Ratchet decided to confide about what happened earlier. "Well…you know about that new series Clank's in?" he asked. Angela nodded. "The director's a jerk. He gave me the lowly role of being a chauffeur and kept on calling me Weasel Boy. I hate it!"

Angela moved a bit closer to Ratchet. She wanted to cheer him up. "Well he might be a jerk to you now, but just wait till you save his butt. He'll have to apologize and make it up to you." She gave a small smile.

When Ratchet saw her smile, it lifted his spirits. He doesn't know why. Her smiles always make him feel better. He gave a small smile in return. "Heh…thanks." He took a small sip from his drink and asked, "So…what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," she replied, "Got a VG?"

"Well…yes, but I mostly play Louis's Gamestation 2," Ratchet answered, "Has a lot more variety of games than the VG." He got up and went to a cabinet. He opened it and revealed a massive collection of games for the Gamestation.

_Wow…Louis must be a hardcore gamer…_Angela thought.

"Well, do you want to play racing, first person shooter, or RPG?" Ratchet asked over his shoulder.

"Um…got any co-operative FPS games?" Angela asked.

Ratchet was a bit surprised; he wasn't expecting that kind of game genre for Angela. "Yeah…Louis has Medal of Honor, Call of Duty…um…I think FPS Rail Shooter called House of the Dead. He has the gun attachments for it. So what do you want to play?"

"How about House of the Dead?" Angela suggested, "I haven't played a Rail Shooter for some time, I want to see if I'm still good at it."

"Okay."

Later…

"Shoot its green veins, Angela!" Ratchet yelled.

They were on the final boss of the game; a Zombie called the Magician. The game doesn't tell its weakness right away, so the two had to discover it. Most of its body was protected by armor. The unprotected veins that pulsated on its right calve, left thigh, and left bicep were its weakness. It threw fireballs, which they had to shoot to prevent getting hit; when it gets enough damage, it flies around the screen and tries to swing a palm covered in fire at them, but it can be stunned right before it hits the two if they shoot its weakness. Eventually, they killed it.

When the credits started, Ratchet placed his gun down and gave out a sigh. "Whew, that was close; I had one life left, I nearly died…again." He then looked at Angela and admitted, "You're really good! You've got a lot of head shots on the regular zombies!"

"Thanks!" she replied, "You're pretty good too!"

"Well if you don't count the amount of times I had to use continues, then yeah, I was good," Ratchet joked. Together they laugh at his joke.

* * *

_It was so long ago…_Ratchet thought unhappily. He missed their days together. He missed her smile. _I would give anything to see that smile again…_

* * *

Angela was…is a very caring friend. He remembered the time he had a stomach virus…

"Holy crap, Ratchet," Ramirez murmured as he took Ratchet's temperature, "107 degrees; that's one hell of a fever."

Ratchet lied on his bed with the covers over him. He had a moist towel on his forehead, to lower the fever. He got a stomach virus from eating undercooked meat, which he prepared. His stomach felt like it was on fire and his head felt like it was getting pounded by a jack hammer. "Why do you have to go back to Earth again?" Ratchet moaned. He needed Ramirez to help him, since Clank and Clark were off doing another "Secret Agent Clank" movie.

"Command wants me to go back and help with the recovery effort from our last war," Ramirez replied.

Ratchet painfully rolled to his side and looked at Ramirez at the face. "The Russo-American War? I thought that was over four years ago like you said?" he asked.

Ramirez replied, "My brother John is going to give a speech to help recover our relationship with Russia, and Command wants the family to be there." He picked up the phone and started to dial a number. "I'll call Angela; she'll take care of you while I'm gone."

The phone rang for a few seconds, until Angela's voice came through the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Angela, it's me, Louis. I have to go back to Earth for a few days, but Ratchet has a stomach virus. He's very sick and I need someone to take care of him while I'm gone. I know that you're busy, but can you come over?"

"Actually, work has been very slow at Mega Corp., so I'm free for the meantime. I should be able to come over," she answered, "How long will you be gone?"

"About five days and thanks," Ramirez replied. He ended the call and turned to Ratchet. "She'll be here soon, Ratchet."

"Aww crap…" Ratchet moaned. "Would you pass me the trash can?"

Ramirez saw the trashcan was near the bed. He picked it up and he winced from the smell. _Well there's Ratchet's earlier meal…_ He passed Ratchet the trash can and Ratchet did his business.

After wiping away some stray strands of vomit, Ratchet moaned, "This sucks…"

Ramirez crossed his arms and was disappointed. "Well that's what you get for not following cooking instructions and rushing with the preparation." Then there was a knock on the door. "Wow…that was fast." Ramirez went to the door and opened it. It was Angela. "Thanks for taking time to help Ratchet."

"No problem, I'm always happy to help," Angela replied as she entered the apartment.

"Do you know what to do? My brother James got a stomach virus, so I could tell—"

"It's okay, Louis," Angela interrupted, "I know what to do. Please, if you need to go now, please do."

"Thanks. Call me if you need help." After that, he entered his fighter ship and flew away.

Angela closed the door behind her and entered Ratchet's room. She grabbed a chair, placed it beside the bed and sat next to Ratchet. She took off the nearly spent wet rag off his forehead and placed her hand on his forehead. _Damn…he has a very high fever._ "Ratchet, how are you feeling?" she asked in a soothing voice.

His eyes rolled to her and he gave a wry smile. "I feel like my stomach is on fire and my head is getting pounded by a jackhammer," Ratchet replied.

"Did you eat any fruit?"

Ratchet groan and placed his right hand over his stomach. "I tried, but it ended up in that trash can over there." He pointed to the trash can that was beside Angela's chair.

"No wonder it smells in here. Okay, I'll be right back; I'm going to make some peppermint tea and bring a new wet rag." She exited the bedroom and entered the kitchen. She filled a pot of water and boiled it on the stove. She looked through the cabinets for any freeze-dried peppermint leaves. She found a vial and put a medium amount of leaves into a tea bag, which she placed inside the mug. When the water was hot enough, she poured some into the mug and let it steep. Then she went to a closet, grabbed a small rag, and put it in cold water. Once everything was ready, she returned to Ratchet's room with the mug and the rag in hand. She placed the rag on a side table for one minute and with her other hand, which isn't holding the mug, she gently lifted Ratchet's head. She gently placed the lid on Ratchet's lips and slowly poured the tea into his mouth. "Just tell me if you want to stop."

Ratchet's mouth burned a little bit from the hot liquid, but he savored the minty flavor of the tea. At first, his stomach didn't agree with the tea at first, but the tea seemed to sooth it a bit. He drank all of the tea in one sitting. He gave out a relieve sigh and murmured, "Thank you Angela…that helped a lot with my stomach."

She smiled as she gently lowered his head back onto the pillow. After she placed the mug on the side table, she grabbed the rag and placed it on his forehead. "Rest, Ratchet," Angela whispered soothingly, "I'll be here if you need me."

Ratchet nodded before he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Angela took the trash can and emptied it into a dumpster outside. True to her word, Angela stayed right beside him when she returned, waiting to see if anything changes.

Four hours later…

Ratchet woke up feeling a bit better; his headache isn't as painful and his stomach isn't that queasy. He looked towards Angela and saw that she fell asleep. He gave a small smile. _She's a really good nurse…I feel a lot better because of her._ He moved his left arm out of the covers and poked her knee. "Hey, Angela…Angela!" Ratchet whispered.

She jolted back in shock. "W-what? Oh hey, Ratchet. Feeling better?" she asked.

"Yeah; stomach's not as queasy and headache's not as painful." He slowly got up from the covers and sat on the edge of his bed. "Thanks."

"No problem." Then she gave a small grin and asked, "Feel well enough to play Medal of Honor?"

Ratchet then gave his own grin and replied, "Want to lose in Rising Sun™?" He quickly got up and set up the Gamestation 2. Then he started a competitive game of Team Deathmatch, with Ratchet in the Allies and Angela in the Axis. They both had computer players on their teams.

Later…

AXIS POWER WINS

"Oh come on!" Ratchet complained, "That's not fair; I'm sick!"

"Whatever! I got you fair and square with the Springfield!" Angela retorted.

"Damn…best 6 out of 7!"

* * *

_And she got a perfect win streak after that…_Ratchet thought. He got up and walked out of his cabin. He doesn't know where he was going, nor did he care. He wandered around the Phoenix. Eventually, he reached the starboard observation room. It was a small theater room that people can look into the stars or planets from the massive window at the front. Ratchet came here once in a while when he was working with the Rangers. Sometimes it would calm his mind. He sat in the front row. He saw the planet Viceron and neighboring stars through the window. He then remembered the last movie night he had with Angela.

* * *

Ratchet and Angela held movie day once every week. They'd take turns picking the movie and where they'd watch it. Today was Ratchet's turn, so Ratchet has to choose the movie and hosted it in Clank's apartment.

Ratchet walked up to Ramirez, Clank, and Clark and asked, "Hey, I'm out of movies. Do you guys have any movies that we haven't seen yet?"

Clank and Clark were out of movies, too. Ramirez pondered on the question for a brief moment, and replied, "Well…I have the 'Band of Brothers' Collector's Edition movie set. However, it's a ten part mini-series, not rated, and the entire series is almost 11 hours."

"Wow…got a different movie?"

"Um…not really, but it's a really good series! It balances the ideal of heroism with the violence and terror of battle, reflecting what is both civilized and savage about war."

Ratchet seemed interested. _I wonder if she'll like it._ "I'll ask Angela if she wants to watch it when she comes over."

It was about 4 o'clock when Angela arrived. After she entered the apartment, she turned to Ratchet and asked, "So what movie do you have for this week?"

Ratchet ran his hand through the tuft of fur between his ears nervously. "Well, more like _movies_. Louis offered his 'Band of Brothers', but it's actually ten movie length episodes. Do you want to watch it?"

"Louis also said that it's not rated, Ratchet," Clank and Clark interjected at the same time.

Ratchet offered the tin box to Angela. On the front cover of the box, it showed 13 human soldiers on top of a hill. She took it and read the message underneath the title. It says: THEY DEPENDED ON EACH OTHER, AND THE WORLD DEPENDED ON THEM. _This seems interesting…_Angela thought. She then flipped to the back cover and read the summary of the movie on the back. '_Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, __**Band of Brothers**__ tells the story of Easy Company, 506__th__ Regiment of the 101__st__ Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, __**Band of Brothers **__chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear…' So it's historically based on true events?_ She then looked at the picture above the summary and saw three men walking towards the horizon while the men on the left and right helping the man in the middle. She saw that the armor, gear, and weapons weren't the same Ramirez has. She turned to Ramirez and asked, "When was this movie based on?"

"It takes place in World War II, which was…about 76-80 years ago in Earth time," Ramirez replied, "So what do you think, want to watch it?"

"It seems interesting…sure!"

Later…

They've just finished part one entitled "Currahee", which was the soldiers' boot camp training before they were sent to Normandy. All five of them were watching from the couches in the living room. Ramirez shuffled a bit and looked towards Ratchet and Angela and asked while the credits rolled, "So what do you two think? Do you want to watch the rest of the series then?"

"Even though I know little of your planet's history, Louis, but I'm already hooked to this series!" Angela replied, "I would like to see the rest. What about you Ratchet?"

"Sure!" Ratchet replied.

Throughout the rest of the day, they've watched episode after episode. During the scenes with gunfights, explosions, and gory events Angela would sometimes cringe in fear or shock. On the other hand, Ratchet was sitting next to her, and he saw her do this. He put his left arm over her and gently pulled her against him. Angela looked at him with a surprised look on her face, but she got the message and curled up towards him and rested her head on his left shoulder.

Ramirez saw this from the corner of his eyes and gave a small smile. _They said it was friendly relationship, but to me…it seems like they want to be more than just friends…_Ramirez thought. _However, I don't want to invade their personal life, so I'll leave them alone._

During the middle of the 5th episode, Ramirez went to the kitchen to get more popcorn. Clank and Clark decided to call it a day; they went to their recharging stations, and entered sleep mode.

Ratchet looked down at Angela and asked, "Still want to watch the rest?" He asked this because Angela always flinches at the gory and explosion scenes.

She looked up at him and replied, "Yes, Ratchet." She snuggled close to him and asked timidly, "Are you going to watch the rest with me, Ratchet?"

"Of course, Angela," Ratchet replied soothingly. He looked down at her and gave a small smile. With his other hand, he brought it behind Angela's head and stroked her hair. Then he looked deep into her sapphire-blue eyes, and she looked deep into his aqua-green eyes. They could not break from each other's gaze; their eyes were locked with each other. Both of them were thinking of the same thing, and both of them want it. They both closed their eyes and leaned towards each other. They leaned in for a kiss.

A split-second before their lips could touch, Ramirez re-entered the room and yelled, "Got more popcorn!" They both turned away from each other because of the interruption. The fur on Ratchet's and Angela's face was thin enough to allow others to see them blushing. Ramirez saw the red on both of their cheeks and asked, "Did I interrupt something?"

"N-no!" both Ratchet and Angela stammered at the same time.

Later that night…

It was getting late at night for the day. Ratchet went out and retuned with a thin blanket and wrapped him and Angela in it. At the end Part 8, "The Last Patrol", Ramirez decided to call it a day and went to bed. However, Ratchet and Angela decided to watch the rest together. Ratchet turned off the lights and lowered the volume so they won't wake up Ramirez.

During a scene when there was a pair of soldiers that were escorting a wounded comrade, Angela asked, "Ratchet, may I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Could you promise me to never abandon and forget a friend? I mean, look at this pair of troops; they're rescuing a wounded friend despite being in danger." She snuggled closer to him. "Could you promise me that?"

Ratchet looked down at her with compassionate eyes. He smiled and nuzzled his nose into her cheek. "I promise, Angela," Ratchet replied in a soothing voice.

When the final episode was done, it was early morning of the next day. Ratchet asked quietly, "Did you enjoy the movies, Angela?" She didn't respond. "Angela?" He then looked at his left shoulder and saw her asleep. Ratchet let out a small smile. _She looks so peaceful…and beautiful._ He reached for the remotes and turned off the DVD player and the vid-screen. He pulled the light blanket a bit higher over them. Then he rested the side of his head on top of Angela's head and closed his eyes. Together, they went through a deep sleep.

* * *

_Dammit Louis…we were so close._ This memory caused so much happiness in Ratchet. It reminded him that they were extremely close back then. He tried to remember more memories after that, but he couldn't. Then realization dawned on him. _That was two days before the attack on Veldin!_ He had completely abandoned and forgotten about her. Then he remembered what she asked.

_Could you promise me to never abandon and forget a friend?_

Immediately he was filled with guilt. He got up from his chair, walked towards the window, and rested his forehead on it. He placed his hands on the window to brace himself. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. _I've never kept to that promise…I've failed at that._ He then looked at the planet Viceron, where Angela was prisoner. _I'm so close…and yet I'm so far…_

He heard footsteps behind him, and a female voice came out. "Ratchet?"

Ratchet turned around and saw it was Sasha. "What do you want, Sasha?" Ratchet asked.

She walked forward and replied, "Louis asked me to check up on you. I checked your quarters, but you weren't there. However, I knew that you would come here." She sat in the front row of chairs, and Ratchet followed suit. Sasha's hands fumbled around each other nervously. "So…what was Angela like?"

Ratchet was stunned; he didn't expect to hear that kind of question coming from Sasha. _Should I tell her?_ He gave it a thought for moment, then he replied, "Well…Angela is…a very kind, sweet, and caring friend. She is a Gene Scientist for Mega Corp." He stared off into the stars and continued, "Whenever I'm in a bad mood…she always brightens my day. Her smile…I don't know how to explain it…but it always lifts my spirits." He paused for a brief moment. "She was…a bit clumsy at some times, but I always help her when she needs it."

Sasha didn't say anything for a brief moment, and then she asked, "Ratchet, can I ask you something?" Ratchet nodded. Sasha thought about her question for a few moments, and then she asked, "Do you love her?"

Ratchet looked at her, stunned at her question. He face felt warm. He didn't want to deny it, but he doesn't want to upset Sasha. "Sasha…I'm sorry, but I—"

"No, it's okay, Ratchet," Sasha interrupted, "But do yourself a favor, Ratchet: tell her when you save her." With that said…she got up and started to exit the room. She turned around and added, "Recon is almost over, Ratchet. You should go to the command room soon." She then left the room.

Ratchet smiled softly. _Well…at least she accepts it._ But then a new fear dawned on him. Even though he loves Angela, a new question came to his mind: _Does she feel the same towards me?_ He got up and exited the observation room; he was heading towards the command room. _Only time will tell._

* * *

A/N: So how did I do? Was it good? Please tell me in your feedback.


	12. Plan of Attack

Soon, everyone gathered in the command room. They circled around a circular holographic projector. In the middle of the projector was a 3D representation of the prison and 10 mile radius of the surrounding area. The prison was built over the ocean, making the choices of infiltration limited.

"Okay, time to make a plan," Ramirez announced. He then pointed to the towers in the north, south, east, and west side of the prison. When he touched them, the hologram towers turned red. "An aerial insertion is out of the question. Based on the satellite photos we've received, there are Surface to Air Missile sites installed in each of these towers. If we go there in transports or skydive, we'll get blown away before we get a chance to step foot in the prison."

Sasha studied the hologram for a brief moment. "How about we use guided missiles to take down the towers?" Sasha suggested.

"Negative," Green interrupted, "Further scans on these SAM sites shows that they are capable of shooting down even the fastest guided missile; that's Cragmite tech for ya."

"We can't give up, now," Ratchet said, "This place isn't a fortress….there has to be some way to get inside." He studied the hologram of the prison. He scanned for any weakness in its defenses. Then he looked at the underside and saw catwalks and pathways underneath the main building. He turned to Merc and Green and asked, "Can you show me what the current sea level is?" Green entered some codes in the console and showed an accurate representation of the water level. When Ratchet looked at the pathways again he saw that the sea level was less than a foot below the walkways. He touched the walkways, highlighting them, and suggested, "What about a water insertion? The sea-level is high enough for us to climb out of the water and get up."

Ramirez looked at the walkways and agreed. "Good idea. My brother John did the same when he was liberating an oil rig at the coast of eastern Russia. We can take submersibles and infiltrate the defenses. My team will do the infiltration." He then highlighted four rooms; two in the west wing and the other two in the east wing. One was in the 5th level, two were in the 3rd level, and the other in the 2nd level. Ramirez pointed to the room in the 5th level—or the bottom floor, which resides in the west wing area, and said, "Based on architectural files—that Ryan managed to get—this is the control room. We need to take control of this room first. Delta squad, led by SSgt. Roycewicz, will guide the rescue team, Alpha Squad, from the control room. Meanwhile, Charlie Squad will set C4 explosives in the towers and the hangers." He then turned to Sgt. Buck and warned, "Try to avoid attention, _this time_."

He then returned to the map and continued, "These other four highlighted areas, from west to east and from bottom to top, are the regular prison cells, solitary confinement, torture room, and the interrogation room. Angela will be more likely to be held in one of these rooms. Ratchet and I will be in charge of Alpha Squad. We'll start our search in the west wing of the 3rd level, then go to the east wing, work our way up, and go from the East wing to the West wing of the 2nd level. If we do find other prisoners, that's where Bravo Squad comes in. They'll be with Alpha Squad, and when we liberate prisoners, they'll back track to the walkways and get them out of there."

Grace looked at him confused. "Well, where do the Specters get involved?"

"I was getting to that," Ramirez replied, "Once Charlie Squad plants the explosives; I'll give them word to detonate them. Once the SAM sites and the hangers are neutralized, you will arrive on the Rangers' equivalent of the Little Bird hover-crafts. You will be escorted by the Rangers' fighter squadron. Once you reach the prison, you will snipe any Cragmites that are still visible outside from a high altitude while the fighter craft do collateral damage on the prison."

Grace formed a grin and asked, "I get to use my CheyTac M200 Intervention Anti-Material sniper rifle, yes?"

Ramirez let out a small grin and shook his head. Normally, the CheyTac M200 Intervention sniper rifle is Anti-Infantry, and regular troops can't carry around with them due to its size and weight. However, Grace modified it to become Anti-Material and due to the Task Forces' augmentations, Grace can carry it with no problem.

"Yeah, you can. Anyways, once you neutralized any remaining Cragmites around the towers, Merc, Green, and the Ranger's will skydive into the fray. Task Force: Leviathan's Charlie and Delta Squads will work their way up, while the Rangers will work their way down. We'll trap the Cragmites in this section, here." Ramirez then highlighted the middle room in the 2nd level. "They'll have nowhere else to run." He then turned to Ratchet and asked, "Do you still have that Nano-Pack we've found on Zeldrin, Ratchet?"

The Nano-Pack is a small device that stores extra Nanotech. When the user is in critical condition, the Nano-Pack automatically releases the extra Nanotech and enters the user's bloodstream. It heals the user's life threatening injuries, but it won't heal all injuries.

Ratchet gave it a thought for a moment, then he replied, "I think so…I have to check my locker back in my quarters."

"See to it soon, Ratchet. Angela is going to need that extra Nanotech." Ramirez studied the hologram one last time; checking if there's any error in the plan. Once he was confident, he looked up from the hologram and looked at everyone in the room. They were all confident; willing to take the risk of no return. "I'm not going to lie to all of you, our enemy knows we're coming," Ramirez announced, "If we lose Angela in this Op, we lose it all. However, they don't know what we're made of; what we can accomplish. They've made the mistake of kidnapping and torturing one of our friends. They'll pay the price with their lives."

Ratchet decided to add on to Ramirez's speech. He stepped up and added, "Back then, Cragmites weren't just a threat to my race, the Lombaxes…they were a threat to every sentient species of the Universe. Even a small, surviving guerilla regiment is still a threat to everyone." He paused for a second, thinking of what to say next. "The Cragmites think that kidnap, blackmail, cheap blows, and intimidation are the warfare techniques to make their foes fall. There's no honor in that! It's time to show the Cragmites true modern warfare! It's time to show the Cragmites that we can't let intimidation and fear get the best of us! It's TIME…to show the Cragmites…what we're made of, IN OUR TERMS!!" Ratchet looked for his helmet. It was sitting on a chair. He walked towards it, picked it up, and put it on. He heard the hissing noise of the suit locking with the helmet. He was now vacuumed sealed within the suit. He turned to everyone else in the room. The black camouflaged metal plating and the red visor made Ratchet looked like an impassive soldier from ancient legends. "Let's go get our Lombax back!!" A cheer roared throughout the Phoenix's command room.

It is time…

* * *

A/N: **The rescue begins...**


	13. Infiltration

A/N: In this chapter, more of Louis's history is revealed. Tell me what you think.

* * *

Ratchet stood at the end of the transport's rear ramp. He looked towards the horizon, barely seeing the prison. It was early in the morning. The soldiers of Task Force: Leviathan were in two transports, hovering over the ocean waters. They were far from radar and visual detection. Ratchet held his helmet under his left arm and carried his recently customized Constructo Rifle in his right hand. Silencer/Flash Suppressor, Bio-Scope sight, lance chamber, a Galvanic Paralyzing charge pack, and an under-barrel grenade launcher. The team had a similar weapon: silenced ACR with holographic sight w/flip-down iron sights, vertical grip, HUD laser sight, an under-barrel M203 grenade launcher, and more accessories. The Leviathans' Rifle is almost the same as the Special Ops' M4A1 SOPMOD. Behind Ratchet were three of the Leviathan's equivalents of Spec Ops submersibles. The other transport had two. Each submersible was able to transport five troops; two in the cockpit, two on the sides, and one on the top middle. Ratchet's squad was the only squad to have five people. The rest of the squads have four.

Ramirez walked towards Ratchet and stood beside him. He stared off into the morning horizon, too. He turned to Ratchet and asked, "You ready?"

Ratchet slung the Rifle on his back, grabbed his helmet with both hands, and placed it on his head. The suit locked with it. "As I'll ever be," Ratchet replied. He paused for a brief moment, and murmured, "I miss her, Louis. I don't want to lose her…"

Ramirez placed a comforting hand on Ratchet's left shoulder. "We'll get her out of there," Ramirez said reassuring, "I don't want you to get the feeling of losing love ones again…like I have."

Clank and Clark behind the two heard this. They've walked up to Ramirez, wanting to hear his explanation. Ratchet looked at him and asked, "What happened?" Ramirez didn't say anything. _He probably regrets the memory…_Ratchet thought.

Then, Ramirez replied, "Three years before the Russo-American war….when I was still a Marine…we were in another war I called the 6-Day War. I've lost my entire squad…Lt. Vasquez and Sgt. Jackson were killed in a Nuclear Blast in Afghanistan. The rest of the squad was deployed to Russia to do a joint-op with the British SAS. Our mission: kill a Russian Ultranationalist terrorist leader named Imran Zakhaev. We were pinned down in a bridge in the Altay Mountains. I flanked the enemy and fired at them from the left side of the bridge. However, there was Gasoline Trucker behind us. It exploded and knocked my squad and the SAS squad on their butts. I was far from the explosion, but a piece of hot-shrapnel gave me a cut on the neck from ear-to ear."

He pause for a minute, then resumed, "SSgt. Griggs, Cpl. Heath, Pfc. Lansford, and an SAS trooper named Gaz were executed on the bridge. I was delirious, but I fired at Zakhaev and his bodyguards. I missed, but I got them distracted. The SAS trooper, Sgt. "Soap" MacTavish, killed them with his Captain's pistol, which was slid to him by the Captain. I walked towards Soap; saw that he had deep cuts on the left side of his face. I then fell to the ground and went unconscious from the blood loss. The Russian Loyalists came in and extracted both Soap and me out of the area; Soap and I were the only survivors. After I woke up in a hospital in Moscow, I was in an emotional wreck for very long time. Depression was so much, I nearly became suicidal…clearly the opposite man I am today...I believed it was called Survivor's Guilt. One day before the war…my squad gave me a surprise birthday party. Heh…best improvised birthday I've ever had. After that…they were gone in a blink of an eye." He then looked at Ratchet and added, "I don't want you to become like that. I'll risk my life on getting her out."

Ratchet felt a small pang of sorrow. _He lost more than I've had_… Ratchet then felt more respected towards Ramirez. _He saw things that no one should ever see… _He was about to say some condolence, but Ramirez put his hand up.

"It's okay, Ratchet. I'm not mad or upset that you asked that question." He then activated coms and ordered everyone, "It's time! Everyone form up with your squads at your submersible." Ramirez and Ratchet kneeled to let Clark and Clank attach themselves to their respective owner's back apparatus. As soon as Clank and Clark were attached, Ratchet and Ramirez formed up with their squad at their submersible. Their squad consisted of Pvt. Ryan, Sgt. Miller, and 1stLt Locke. Each taking a hold of a handle, they pulled the submersible with them into the water.

Once they were underwater, Ratchet and Ramirez jumped into the cockpit, Sgt. Miller and 1stLt. Locke held on to the handles on the sides, and Pvt. Ryan held on to the handles on the middle. Once everyone was ready, Ramirez took controls of the small craft and started the small engine. He accelerated, and drove towards the Prison. On their left and right, the other squads traveled besides them.

Ratchet looked at his surroundings, saw nothing but blue for some time. Then he started to see the native fish-life that swam in the waters. Some were brightly colored, different sizes, etc. Ratchet was fascinated for some time, but then he changed views on what was ahead of him. He saw the support beams of the prison.

They've made it…

Ramirez tapped Ratchet's shoulder. When Ratchet looked at him, Ramirez turned off the engine and pointed to the surface with his thumb. "Let's go team," Ramirez ordered. They exited the cockpit, let go of the handles, and swam towards the surface. To other people, the Leviathans' suits looked heavy, but in reality, it was surprisingly light. They had no trouble swimming. Ramirez and Ratchet were the first to reach the surface. Only the top of their heads were out of the water, and a good thing, too. Above them on the platform were two Cragmites, talking to each other. Through the radio, Ramirez ordered, "We'll take them out at the same time. I'll take the one on the left." He then ejected one of his gauntlet blades.

Ratchet saw this and did the same thing. They swam to their targets. "On your go, Louis," Ratchet ordered. Ramirez grabbed the edge of the platform, pulled himself up, grabbed the Cragmite's utility belt, and dragged him into the water. Once Ratchet saw this, Ratchet did the same to the other Cragmite. Once they were both underwater, Ratchet placed his gauntlet blade on the Cragmite's neck and cut it, deeply. The Cragmite stopped thrashing and became limp. Violet blood mixed with the sea-water. Ratchet pushed the body down, turned to the surface, and swam up.

Above Ratchet were Miller and Locke, each extending a hand to pull him up. Ratchet took hold of their hands, then Miller and Locke pulled him up. Now that everyone was on the platform, they turned the safety off on their weapons. There was a flight of stairs that leads up to the West wing side of the 5th level. Ratchet and Ramirez took point. Once Ramirez and Ratchet entered the 5th level, they saw a Cragmite Brute smoking over the railings.

"Tango over at the railings, use suppressed weapons only," Ramirez ordered.

Ratchet took aim at the Brute's head and fired. The Cragmite jerked back a bit, then leaned forward and fell into the unforgiving waters below. "Tango down," Ratchet advised. Together, they took the unpopulated hallways. Eventually, they've reached the door to the control room.

Ramirez looked to the left and saw the grating of a ventilation system. He walked towards it and silently pulled it from the wall. Once he put the grate gently on the ground, Ramirez ordered, "Clark, I want you to go into the vent and tell us how many tangos are in the room." Clark nodded, detached himself from Ramirez's back, and entered the vent.

A few minutes passed, then Clark's voice came through the radio, "There are at least six tangos in the room. Three seated in front of the control console, the rest are taking notes in front of the console."

"Okay team, switch to single shot bursts," Ramirez ordered. Ramirez stood left of the door while Ratchet stood right of the door. The rest of the team hugged the walls of the hallway. "On three, Ratchet. One…" Ramirez's left hand reached for the door control. "Two…" Ratchet brought his Rifle up. "Three!!" Ramirez pounded the door control with his hand. "Breaching, breaching!" Ratchet and Ramirez entered the room and carefully fired at the surprised Cragmites. Soon, the room was clear.

"Clear!" Ratchet yelled.

Ryan walked up towards the console and started entering codes. He was shutting down security alarms and checking surveillance. Clark returned back to Ramirez and locked himself to the apparatus. Now that the control room was taken, Charlie Squad went to do their objective. Ryan watched them from the monitors. They avoided populated hallways and only used suppressed shots. They hid the bodies in the maintenance closets.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves," Ramirez ordered.

10 minutes later…

"Captain, the explosives have been planted," Sgt. Buck informed through coms.

"Including the hanger?" Ramirez asked.

"Yes, sir. We didn't forget."

Ramirez didn't say for a brief moment, but then he ordered, "Do it." Soon they heard loud explosions and felt the ground moved. Ramirez then changed radio frequencies and ordered Task Force: Specter, "Grace, you guys are up!"


	14. Search and Rescue

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. Now, all Hell breaks loose.

* * *

"30 seconds!" Grace informed her team. She sat on the edge of the hover-craft, cradling her Intervention sniper rifle. Besides her was her second-in-command, 1stLt. Smith. Her team was in hover-ships, cradling M21 ERB sniper rifles. She saw two fighter crafts flying below her. Her hover-craft gained altitude; she saw the black smoke rising from the ruined towers. Her hover-craft hovered in front of the North tower. She pulled the charging lever on her Intervention sniper rifle and ordered the pilot, "Stabilize!" Once the hover-craft stabilized, she ordered her troops, "This is Pelayo, all sniper teams open fire!"

She aimed through the scope and saw one of the Cragmites trying to put out the fire. She aimed for the trooper's head, she held her breath, and pulled the trigger. The bolt of plasma took his head off…literally. The anti-material plasma bolt vaporized the Cragmite's head. The body jerked for a split-second, then went limp and collapsed. There was a burn five inches in diameter and two feet deep where the Cragmite's head was in front of. Grace's sniper rifle was able to penetrate 12 inch thick titanium plates. After every shot, she had to pull the Bolt Lever, since the sniper rifle was Bolt-Action.

Once the tower was clear, Grace ordered the pilot, "Shift right." Then the pilot flew towards the East tower and did the same. They've encountered some resistance; the Cragmites fired unguided rockets. However, they've met the same fate as the troops in the North Tower. Grace reloaded her sniper rifle and looked towards the South tower. She saw movement. "I see hostiles in the South Tower!"

"Affirmative!" the Ranger pilot replied. The robot drove the hover-craft and stopped in front of the tower. Before Grace and her partner could shoot at the hostiles, a Ranger Fighter fired a pair of missiles at the tower. The tower exploded as the fighter flew passed Grace at neck-breaking speeds. However, the Fighter's sonic-boom caused the hover-craft to lose stability for a brief-moment. "Aw crap! Hang on!" the pilot warned as he fought for control.

Grace held on to a railing as the hover-craft shook. Once it was over, she swore under her breath. _That's it! Ramirez's idea of using fighter jets is going to get us killed!_ Then she tapped into coms and yelled at Sasha, "Sasha, get those fighters to wave off; that was too close!"

Sasha apparently knew what happened, as she replied, "I'll try to buy you some time. The Rangers seem to get a bit out of hand when they get excited."

"Friggin' Rangers!" 1st Lt. Smith complained, "I thought that they were the good guys!"

"I'm right here, moron!" the pilot retorted.

Grace glared at the two. Even though her face was covered by the helmet, the two can feel her cold, angry, frightening glare. "Cut the chatter!" Grace threatened, "Merc, Green, the towers have been neutralized. You're good to go!"

* * *

"Okay, Grace!" Green replied. He turned to the Rangers behind him and Merc and barked, "You heard the lady; prepare to drop!"

The transport's rear ramp lowered, and then Merc barked, "Go, go, go!" Merc and Green propelled themselves towards the ramp and jumped out. The other Rangers followed suit.

Dozens of Rangers were skydiving above the Prison. When they were 30 feet from impacting any kind of surface, let it be the roof-top of attached buildings or the outside black-walk, they've activated their hover boots and made touchdown in the prison. Once Merc landed, he looked up and saw that there were three Cragmites running towards him. He took out a grenade from his belt, pulled out the pin, and threw it. It exploded at the feet of the Cragmites. Violet blood sprayed against the wall on the left.

Once Merc's and Green's squad landed, Merc and Green ordered, "Move out, Rangers! We got some bugs that need to be exterminated!"

"Hooah!" all of the Rangers grunted.

* * *

Ramirez slammed a new cartridge into his ACR and ordered Pvt. Ryan, "Ryan, you stay here and help Charlie Squad. We're going to check the regular cells in the 3rd level's West Wing. You'll guide us from the control room."

Ryan took out a PDA and saluted. "Sir, yes, sir!"

Ramirez then turned to his remaining squad and Bravo Squad and barked, "We're Oscar Mike!"

Together, they've gone to the West Wing's stair well and went up two levels. Once they've reached the regular cells, they've immediately faced resistance. The squads took cover behind crates and inside empty cells.

Locke took out a flash bang grenade from his belt. "Flash bang out!" Locke warned. He tossed the grenade at the Cragmites while the squads went into cover or looked at the opposite direction. There was a bright light and a loud noise that filled the area. The Cragmites cried out as they were blinded and went temporarily deaf. Ratchet ran towards one that was closest to him, ejected the gauntlet blade in his right arm, tackled the Cragmite to the ground, and thrust the blade underneath the Cragmite's chin. The tip of the blade pierced out through the top of the skull. Ramirez took out his side holster, since he didn't have time to reload his rifle, and fired at the Cragmites. His aim was dead on…bull's eye on every Cragmite he shot.

The area was clear…for now.

Pistol smoking, Ramirez put it back in his side holster and ordered, "Ryan, deactivate the laser gates on the closed cells!" Soon the laser gates deactivated, then he ordered the squads, "Check the cells!"

Miller checked cell 4D and informed, "Cell 4D is clear!"

Locke then checked one of the cells and added, "This cell's empty, too!"

Ratchet entered one of the cells, and grimly informed, "Someone was in this cell…"

Ramirez rushed towards Ratchet's location and looked around the cell. The cot's blanket was in a mess, as if someone was dragged out of their bed. There were small, dry bloodstains on the floor, the cot, and on the walls. Ramirez removed his gauntlet and placed his hand on the bed. It was warm.

"Someone recently slept on this bed," Ramirez concluded. He then put his gauntlet back on and saw a small strand of golden thread on the bed. He picked it up and his visor scanned it.

The results…

Lombax fur…

"This is Angela's cell!" Ramirez barked. He then changed radio frequencies and ordered Ryan, who was back at the Control Room with Charlie Squad, "Ryan, they've moved Angela. Do you see her in the monitors?"

"So far, the Solitary Confinement chamber is the most heavily guarded. She's probably there. However, it could also be another prisoner. I can't see anyone in the interrogation room; the camera angle is terrible! The camera feed in the torture room is dead; power's probably out in that section," Ryan replied.

"Understood!" Ramirez then faced his troops and barked, "We're going to the Solitary Confinement chamber!"

They quickly reloaded their rifles and fought their way to the East Wing…

* * *

High above the Prison, Grace scanned for more targets to terminate. However, there were none. She lowered her sniper, changed radio frequencies, and asked Ramirez, "Louis, the outside is clear. Do you want the Specters to join in the ground assault?"

"The more, the merrier!" Ramirez replied, "We're in the East Wing of the 3rd level. Care to join?"

"You bet." She then turned to the pilot and ordered, "Get to the east side of the 3rd level, stat!"

"Right away, ma'am!" the pilot replied. He took the hover craft low, and hovered besides the railings of the 3rd level.

Grace put her Intervention inside the hover craft and switched it for an ACR SOPMOD. She pulled the charging lever and looked at 1stLt. Smith and ordered, "You're with me!"

Smith nodded and together, they jumped off the hover-craft and landed in the outside area of the 3rd level. Grace waved the pilot goodbye. The pilot returned the gesture and flew away.

"Oh for God's sake!" Ramirez yelled through coms, "We're pinned down at the east wing, we're near the Solitary Confinement chamber, but we're under fire by at least…50 tangos! They're guarding the door!" There was a small explosion that came through the radio. "We could use your help now!"

"Hang on, sweetie," Grace teased.

"Grace…not now…"

"Okay, okay…jeez." she then turned to Smith and yelled, "Let's go kick some ass!" The pair went through the hallways and hugged the wall. Grace looked around the corner and saw that they were on the Cragmites' left flank. She loaded up her grenade launcher, aimed at a group of Cragmites, and open fired. The grenade exploded and incinerated at least six Cragmites. The Cragmites looked towards where the grenade was fired and shoot towards the pair's location. That was a mistake they'll never regret. They didn't paid attention to Ramirez's squad and Bravo squad. The squads fired while the Cragmites turned their backs to them.

Once the way to the door was clear, the squads regrouped with each other.

Ramirez ran towards Grace and complimented, "Good job, Grace!"

"Thanks!" Grace replied, taking the compliment to heart.

Ramirez opened coms and ordered Ryan, "Ryan, get the chamber's door opened."

The blast door slowly opened. Once it was opened, the squads scanned the room for any hostiles. It was clear…for now. The chamber is a collection of single, cylinder like cells. The control room is in charge of the room. The cells were brought by a huge, claw-grabber-arcade like…claw.

"Ryan, who's the prisoner in here?" Clank and Clark asked.

"Um…based on the information on the monitor…Prisoner #25402…it doesn't tell if it's Angela or someone else," Ryan replied, "I'm bringing in the cell right now." A claw moved around the chamber and took hold of one of the cells. It was brought before the squad, but the claw short-circuited. "Crap, they've block me from the hard-line. I have to run a bypass."

"Hurry up, Ryan!" Grace yelled, worriedly.

"Aw crap…I see swarms of Cragmites on the monitors. They're going to your position."

"Dammit, this is going to take too long," Ramirez groaned. He turned to Ratchet and Grace and said, "We still got two areas to check. Ratchet, I want you and Grace to go ahead and check the two rooms in the 2nd level. Okay?"

"Okay!" Ratchet and Clank replied.

Grace looked at Ramirez, worried. "Are you sure, Louis? I don't want to lose you…" Grace murmured.

Ramirez gently placed a hand on her helmeted cheek. "I'll be fine with my squad, Grace," Ramirez reassured.

Underneath his helmet, Ratchet let out a smile. _Lucky brother…_ "Come on, Grace. Let's go."

Ratchet ran out of the room, Grace stopped at the door for a brief second and looked at Ramirez. She blew a kiss towards Ramirez and left. The two went to the stairwell that was near the chamber and went up one flight of stairs.

"Good luck, you two," Ramirez murmured. He then saw Cragmites and ordered the squads, "Open fire!"

Smith had a M240 machine gun with him, so he mounted the machine gun at the door entranced and let out a stream of plasma bolts. The Cragmites were mowed down by the barrage of bolts from the machine gun and from the rifles.

"Ryan, hurry up!" Ramirez yelled.

"Hold on, I'm rerouting the auxiliary circuit…got it!" The cell was lowered behind the squads. "I'm closing the door!" Smith got out of the door way as the blast door slammed shut.

The door of the cell slowly opened. Ramirez ran inside, hoping it was Angela. However, it was someone he wasn't expecting. He saw a middle-aged man with light-purplish skin, violet hair and beard, and wearing a tanned, worn out archeologist's uniform lying on his bed.

"Max Apogee?" Ramirez asked.

The Markazian got up from his bed and looked at Ramirez, confused. "Who are you…and how do you know me?" Max asked.

"I'm Captain Ramirez, leader of Task Force: Leviathan. You gave the concierge the package for Ratchet and me to pick up…at Maktar Resort."

Max bolted off his bed in shock. "Where is Ratchet?" Max asked frantically.

"Ratchet, Clank, and my friend Grace are up in the 2nd level, looking for Angela."

"Oh no…you should have sent more people with Ratchet!"

"Why?" Ramirez asked curious.

"The Cragmite General, Lazarevic, was counting on this. Lazarevic transferred Angela to the torture room. He wants to separate Ratchet from his team at the torture room..." Max Apogee paused for a moment.

"And…?" Ramirez asked worriedly, wondering what the Cragmite is going to do with his brothers Ratchet and Clank.

"Once Ratchet is in the torture room…he's going to finish off both Ratchet and Angela. It's a trap…"

* * *

A/N: Wow...I'm actually almost done with this story. Only a few more chapters to go. Don't worry though, I've already planned a sequel. Expect to see it within the future.


	15. The Face of my Enemy

A/N: WARNING!! The following scene is going to be...cruel and evil. For people that can't handle a shocking twist, please prepare yourselves. You have been warned...

* * *

Ratchet, Clank, and Grace just passed through the interrogation room. Angela wasn't there, just more Cragmites. They were easily killed; Grace threw a Flash Bang, then while the Cragmites were distracted, then Ratchet and Grace put them down. The two reached the door way to the torture room. Ratchet hugged the wall on the left side of the door way while Grace hugged the wall on the right side.

Grace reloaded her rifle and said, "Ratchet, you go in first, I got your six."

Ratchet loaded up the Constructo Rifle's under barreled grenade launcher and replied, "Okay."

Ratchet then moved out of cover and aimed down the room while Grace kept watch behind them. Ratchet cautiously walked inside while Grace was walking backwards, still keeping watch on the hallway. However, once Ratchet and Clark were inside, the door slammed shut behind them…with Grace on the other side.

When the door slammed shut, Grace jumped a bit. "What the hell?!" Grace yelled, confused. She pounded the door with her fist. She stepped back at least 20 feet and fired a grenade. It didn't do any damage. She changed radio frequencies and tried to make contact with Ratchet. "Ratchet, are you alright?!"

"Grace? Wha…ing..on?!" Ratchet replied. It was full of static and was starting to lose signal.

"Ratchet? RATCHET?!" She then checked her visor and saw that the signal was being jammed. "Dammit…it's being jammed…"

"Grace, where are you?!" Ramirez voice came through the radio. "You got to stop Ratchet from entering the torture room; it's a trap!"

Grace's heart rate spiked. "Dammit! Too late; he's already inside!" Grace replied.

"Shit! Hold your position; we're coming to you!"

***

Ratchet was pounding the door and screamed, "GRACE!?" He stopped pounding the door and panted. "Dammit…" He turned around and the room was a completely dark. He surveyed the room, his Rifle ready. "Clank, do you see anything?"

"No, Ratchet," Clank replied, "I think we've fallen into a trap."

"No duh!"

Then, there was static coming from speakers hidden in the room. The speakers crackled a bit, then a new voice came through the speakers.

"Welcome to hell, Ratchet," the voice hissed. It was male, deep, and scratchy. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"No, I don't," Ratchet replied as he scanned the room, finding the source of the voice. "Where are you, you bastard?"

"That will come in time. My name…is Chernobog Lazarevic. I was Emperor Tachyon's top General and his right-hand man. When he rescued us from our dimensional prison, we were all in his debt. I was there on the latest assault on Fastoon." Then a huge vid-screen turned on in one of the walls and it showed video footage of the Cragmites, destroying abandoned and ruined Lombax architect and guarding the Court of Azimuth. "But…you and your friends arrived…and screwed our Emperor's plan…" The screen then showed Ratchet, Clank, Louis, Clark, Tawlyn and her war bots, Cronk, and Zephyr, fighting the Cragmites. "Despite all odds…you managed to defeat my Army AND my Emperor."

Ratchet scanned the room one more time. "Yeah…but I wasn't alone."

"Exactly!" Lazarevic growled, "The only reason that you did the extraordinary actions in your life is that you hide behind your friends' backs and let them do the work!"

"That's not true!" Ratchet barked back.

"It's true! You never left your 'brother', that wretched human's side! He was your so called protector, your so called partner…but in reality; he was your ticket to fame and glory."

"We treat each other equally and leave him out of this!!" Ratchet screamed, "Where is she?!"

"Oh…you mean Angela?" Lavarevic asked slyly, "You know…you abandoning her and forgetting about her for six years was worse than our torture. Every day for the past week we had her, she cried out your name in her sleep…asking why you left her…why you abandoned her. You did her torture for us…"

"Sh-shut up!!" Ratchet stammered. In truth, he did felt guilty. Ratchet knew that deep inside him, he knew Lavarevic was speaking the truth.

Clank sensed what Ratchet was thinking. "Ratchet, don't listen to him! He's just messing with your head," Clank yelled, trying to calm Ratchet's mind.

"I will finish Emperor Tachyon's work of exterminating every last Lombax in this dimension…starting…" A small lamp turned on, revealing Lazarevic. He was standing on the far side of the room. His partially helmeted face was scarred from the many battles he was in. His helmet's visor only covered his eyes and wore his own shielded body suit. He had Angela in his grasp; he had his arm wrapped around her neck and had a pistol's barrel on her back.

Angela's eyes widened with shock when she saw Ratchet. Ratchet could see the fear in Angela's eyes. "Ratchet!" Angela cried out

"Starting…with her." Lazarevic then squeezed the trigger.

The bullet exited at her chest. Blood misted over the exit wound. Angela's eyes widen when she felt the bullet tore through muscle and any organs that were in the area. Crimson blood seeped into Angela's orange prison clothes. Lazarevic let go of Angela and she collapsed onto the ground, blood pooling around her. She looked at Ratchet, her weak eyes pleading at him to save her. Angela weakly mouthed Ratchet's name before blood started oozing from her mouth. Then…to Ratchet's horror...Angela's eyes closed and she stopped moving.

"NO!!!!!" Ratchet cried out.

* * *

A/N: See what I meant?


	16. Race against Time

Meanwhile…

Ramirez and his team were still stuck in the Solitary Confinement chamber. Ramirez slammed a new magazine into his assault rifle as he ordered his teams, "Everyone, check your weapons and gear; we have no idea what's beyond that door. Bravo squad, you still have that job to do: you get Max out of here, understand?!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" All of Bravo Squad barked.

"W-wait a minute!" Max interjected, "I want to fight!"

Ramirez then turned to him. He removed his helmet and stared at Max. He removed his helmet so Max can see how serious Ramirez is. "We already have enough men for the fight!" Ramirez yelled, "I don't want an untrained civilian risk his life for a fight that only we can handle! I want you to get out of here alive! I don't want to tell Talwyn that her only family is dead!"

The mention of Max's daughter hit home. He looked at the ground in despair. Then, he quietly submitted, "Fine…I'll leave with Bravo Squad." He raised his head and added, "But promise me this: make sure Angela gets out of here alive."

"That's a promise I intend to see through," Ramirez replied. He put his helmet back on, opened coms, and ordered Ryan, who was still in the Command Room, "Ryan, get the door open on my mark!" He turned to his team and asked, "Everyone ready?!" When he saw everyone nodded, he then ordered Ryan through coms, "Ryan, get the doors open in three! One…" The team aimed at the door. "Two…" The door's locking mechanisms unlocked and Ramirez took out a plasma grenade. "Three!!" When the door slid opened, there were Cragmite squads waiting for them. Ramirez primed the grenade, threw the grenade, and jumped into cover. The grenade landed at the feet of a squad and exploded. At least four Cragmites were vaporized. Ramirez popped out of cover and yelled, "OPEN FIRE!!!!"

The Leviathans, plus Specter Trooper Smith, returned fire; Max, on the hand, hugged the wall besides the doorway and stayed out of the line of fire. Locke went into cover and loaded up his grenade launcher. He quickly pop out of cover and fired the grenade into a squad of Cragmites. At least three Cragmites were vaporized.

Ramirez cringed when a Cragmite fired at the wall besides the doorway. Even though the rocket explosion was on the other side, Ramirez still felt the explosion. _This is taking too long!_ Ramirez thought. He popped his head out of cover for a split-second to count how many tangos there were. He didn't take cover in time; he got a shot to the head. His shields took the blow, but Ramirez still staggered. He went back into cover and placed his hand over his fore-head. He felt dizzy. _Dammit, Louis…you're getting sloppy._ He faced the squads and yelled, "I count five tangos! Rush maneuver!" Ramirez took out a flash bang grenade and passed his ACR to Clark. Clark put it into his storage cavity and exchanged it for a plasma slug, semi-automatic M1014 shotgun. Ramirez took it and fed seven shells into the chamber. He saw that Locke, Miller, and Bravo Squad member Corporal Ravena switched for their own shot guns. "On three! One…two…three; flash bang out!!"

Ramirez threw the flash bang and it exploded. As the Cragmites were distracted, Ramirez, Miller, Locke, and Ravena ran out of cover and went up-close-and-personal. Ramirez ran up to a blinded Cragmite and fired a shell point-blank range. There was a burnt hole the size of a dinner plate in the chest of the Cragmite. However, there was a Cragmite next to the one Ramirez just killed that can see Ramirez clearly enough. The Cragmite also had a Constructo Shotgun with him. The Cragmite fired point-blank at Ramirez. Ramirez's shields took the blow, but he was thrown back a few meters and landed on his back.

Ravena saw this and yelled, "Captain!!" She ran towards the Cragmite who shot Ramirez and blew his head off. She then ran to Ramirez's side and extended her hand. "You alright, Captain?"

Ramirez stared blankly at her. _I'm getting really sloppy_…Ramirez moaned in his mind. He took hold of her hand, was pulled up, and replied, "Chest is sore, but I'll live."

"The area is clear, sir!" Miller informed.

"Good." Together, the squads went to the stairwell that Ratchet and Grace took. Then he faced Bravo Squad and Max Apogee and ordered, "Now's your chance: get to the Command Center and wait for a transport…and be careful!" All of Bravo Squad saluted and took point downstairs, with Max behind them. He then faced his squad and added, "We're going upstairs; we have to save Ratchet and Angela!"

"Hooah!" Alpha squad grunted.

Together, they went up the flight of stairs up one level. They've traversed the hallways and eventually reached the interrogation room, in the East Wing of the 2nd level. Ramirez took one step inside and immediately got shot. He went into cover, by hugging the wall besides the door way of the interrogation room, and announced, "It's official: I'm getting sloppy in my work!"

After firing a few shots, Miller interjected, "You're just worried about Ratchet, Ramirez. Fear is a powerful thing that messes your head." He looked into the room and informed the squad, "Dammit…they're popping smoke."

"Squad: switch to thermal—white hot—in your visors!" Ramirez ordered. The team switched the settings in the visor. Now they can see sources of heat through the smoke. "The Cragmites think that they're one-step ahead of us, but they're wrong." He then took out a grenade and threw it at the white-colored bodies of Cragmites. The Cragmites didn't see the grenade, so some were killed.

However, the Cragmites also had thermal sights on their weapons. Miller popped out of cover for a split-second to return fire and then he got shot in the face. His shields absorbed the blow, but he fell to the ground and placed his palm on his visor. "Son of a…" Miller moaned.

Ramirez saw Miller getting shot and tightened his grip on his rifle. _This is taking too long…_Ramirez realized. "Clark, hand me the Omega RYNO 5!" Clark reached for the Omega RYNO 5 in his storage cavity and passed it to Ramirez. Ramirez armed it and yelled, "Screw this! I'm going in there, guns blazing! We need to get to the torture room, NOW!" He brought the weapon up and ran into the room. He saw that the Cragmites were all in one spot: they're guarding the doorway to the hallway. Once he saw them, Ramirez squeezed the trigger. The two overlapping mini-guns began to spin and the rocket barrel in the middle charged up. When the gun was ready to fire, the climax of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture began to play and loop. Then, Ramirez unleashed all of Hell on the Cragmites. When the Cragmites heard the song, they started to panic.

Locke heard the song and exclaimed, "IT'S FOURTH OF JULY, PEOPLE!!"

The Omega RYNO 5 unleashed an endless stream of bullets, like a machine gun, but shot them in a wide area, like a shotgun. The middle barrel of the weapon fired mini-missiles every second. Some of the Cragmites immediately ran out of the area, while some were unlucky enough to get vaporized. Ramirez ran after the ones that escaped, yelling, "GET BACK HERE YOU COWARDS!!" During his run, Ramirez managed to vaporize all of the Cragmites. Once Ramirez was confident that the interrogation room was clear, he handed the Omega RYNO 5 back to Clark, received his Assault Rifle, and then turned to his team. Even though they were helmeted, Ramirez knew that they were awed and…somewhat scared.

There was an awkward silence between the remaining three. Locke was the only one that said something, "Holy…crap. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"Noted," Ramirez replied, "We still have a mission to do! Let's go!"

They went through the 2nd level's highway. Ramirez's bloodstream was pumped with adrenaline, but his mind was filled his fear. _Dear God…I hope Ratchet and Clank are alright…_Ramirez hoped. They've reached the door to the torture chamber, and saw Grace was standing right in front of the door. "GRACE!!" Ramirez yelled. He ran up to her and asked "Is Ratchet all right?!"

Grace shook her head and replied, "I don't know…I heard explosions and shots fired. It's all quiet in there, but I don't know if Ratchet or Angela is alright."

"Louis, there might be a way to get inside," Clark informed. He took out the RYNO 5 and handed it to Ramirez and added, "A continuous stream of rounds from the RYNO 5 should be able to bring down the door."

Ramirez nodded as he armed the weapon. "Stand back, guys!" Ramirez warned. He squeezed the trigger and fragmentation rounds plus mini-missiles were shot from the weapon. He felt the massive recoil that the weapon created. After ten seconds of a non-stop stream of explosions, the door finally gave way. Ramirez gave the weapon back to Clark and he ran inside.

The first thing he saw was blood…and the people it belonged to. Ramirez's heart was caught in his throat. _Oh God…_

* * *

A/N: Uh oh! Another cliffhanger! Guess I'm going to leave you guys in the dark for some time. Hehe....


	17. Life or Death

A/N: I have to say...I got a lot of comments that didn't like the ending of Chapter 15. I have to admit...I laughed my butt off when I read them; wasn't expecting that. Well...to quell their anger, Angela's fate is decided in this chapter. Will she live...or die? Also, a bit of a warning: there's going to be some major swearing and a gory scene in this chapter.

* * *

Earlier…

The torture room lights then turned on. There wasn't any cover for both Ratchet and Lazarevic. Seeing Angela on the ground with a pool of blood surrounding her body caused Ratchet to be filled with rage. He tossed the Constructo Rifle on the ground, as he ran out of ammo for it, ejected both gauntlet blades, and ran towards Lazarevic, ready to strike him down.

"DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Ratchet screamed at the top of his lungs. Lazarevic had a shotgun slung over his shoulder. He brought it up and fired at Ratchet in point-blank range. Ratchet's shields took the entire blast. However, he was still thrown back several meters. Ratchet landed on his back was skidding on the ground. He rolled back and dug his gauntlet blades into the ground to stop him from skidding. Once he stopped, he did a quick glance at Angela. He reached for Clank on his back and released him from the apparatus.

Once Clank was placed on the ground, he looked at Ratchet in confusion. "What are you doing, Ratchet?" Clank asked, confused.

"Angela could still be alive, Clank!" Ratchet replied, "I'll keep the Cragmite busy, use the Nano-Pack on Angela and keep her alive!" He then retracted both blades and grabbed the Raptor submachine pistols in his side holsters. With a Raptor in both hands, he charged at Lazarevic while firing at him.

Lazarevic's shields deflected all the bullets that Ratchet fired at him. The Cragmite just laughed at Ratchet's futile attempt. "You'll never touch me! My shields are impenetrable!"

However, he did not notice Clank went around him and reached Angela. Clank scanned the wound and saw that the bullet barely missed her heart. _She could still be alive!_ Clank reached the Nano-Pack in his storage cavity. He took it out and activated the device. The Nano-Pack released the extra Nanotech and it entered Angela's bloodstream. The Nanotech healed the torn muscles, organs, and her sternum. However, it didn't heal the exit wound, so Angela was still bleeding. Plus the Nanotech can't replace the blood that Angela already lost. Clank couldn't check for any vitals; his sensors can't detect any organic pulse. He looked over at Ratchet, who was taking full shotgun blasts. _You're Angela's only hope on getting her out of here, Ratchet, _Clank thought, _Please, be careful, Ratchet._

Meanwhile, Ratchet kept Lazarevic's attention off from Clank. Lazarevic kept Ratchet at bay with the shotgun when he was close. After Ratchet recovered from a shotgun blast, he needed to come up with a plan. _This is taking too friggin' long! _Ratchet screamed in his mind, _Angela is going to die without further medical attention._ He then studied the Raptors in his hands. Then an idea popped into his mind. _I can customize the Raptors to use Liquid Nitrogen rounds! I get Lazarevic running, then I shoot the ground in front of him, and after he slips…I can destroy his shield generator! _He quickly changed the Raptor's modifications and they both now shoot Liquid Nitrogen rounds. He got up and yelled at Lazarevic, "Come and get me, you coward!" He then…flipped Lazarevic off, or in other words: gave him the middle finger.

Lazarevic took this insult greatly. He reared back and let out a throaty roar. He stepped back for a charge, and then ran at Ratchet at full speed. Ratchet got in a ready stance, ready to fire at the ground when Lazarevic was close enough. He waited and didn't move. When Lazarevic was only a few meters away, Ratchet pointed his Raptors towards the ground in front of Lazarevic and fired. The Liquid Nitrogen rounds created an icy layer on the ground. Lazarevic saw this too late; he slipped on the ice and fell on the ground and skidded on the icy surface for a few feet.

Before he could get up, Ratchet was already on top of him. Ratchet pinned him to the ground and ejected his right gauntlet blade and searched for Lazarevic's shield generator. He then saw a pack on the top half of Lazarevic's back, so he figured that the shield generator is the pack. Ratchet plunged the blade at the generator. The blade stopped a few inches away from the generator, as the shields were blocking the blade. Ratchet could see the electricity surging around his right arm. He saw in his HUD that the electrical surge was overloading his own shields. With all the strength, Ratchet pushed the blade further towards the generator. Lazarevic's shields started to give way. Inch by inch, the blade moved closer to the pack. Then, Ratchet saw the shields popped; it was discharged. Ratchet drew back his arm and thrust the blade again. Then the blade penetrated the pack and electricity surged around both Ratchet and Lazarevic. The electricity then discharged a huge explosion. Ratchet's blade came out from the generator; he was thrown back several meters, and landed on his back.

On the ground, Ratchet moaned from the hard-landing. "Crap…that…hurt…" Ratchet groaned. Before he got up, Ratchet saw Lazarevic's shotgun's barrel pointing at his face. Ratchet knew that the blast could penetrate the helmet; Ratchet's shields were completely drained.

Lazarevic fed a shell into the gun's chamber and hissed, "Any last words?"

Ratchet saw that his Raptors were far from him; they were at the electrical discharge location. He thought he was doomed; he didn't have any kind of gun on him. Then he realized that he _does_ have a "gun" on him. _The ballistic gauntlet-blades!_ Ratchet realized. He thought up of a targeting reticule that shows Ratchet where the blade was pointing at. Once showed it showed up in his visor, he quickly made adjustments on his arm so the blade was pointed at Lazarevic's face.

* * *

A/N: The ballistic gauntlet-blades are inspired by a real-life weapon: the Balistic Knife. I first saw this in the Deadliest Warrior show, and was actually used by the Russian Spetsnaz.

* * *

Once Ratchet was ready, he emphasizes his reply, "Burn. In. Hell, Lazare-bitch!" One thing came into his thoughts when he said his reply: _FIRE THE DAMN BLADE! _Then, the spring inside the gauntlet propelled the blade forward. The last thing that Lazarevic saw was the blade doing something totally out of the ordinary: the blade was fired at him as if a gun round. The blade penetrated Lazarevic's left eye and a fountain of violet blood spurted out. Three inches of the blade exited through the back of the skull. Lazarevic reared back and fell on the ground. A pool of violet blood formed around Lazarevic's body. Ratchet then got up, walked up towards the Cragmite's body, and yanked the blade out of Lazarevic's skull. Ratchet flicked the gore off the blade and reinserted it back into the gauntlet. Ratchet then looked over where Clank and Angela were. Angela still hasn't moved. "Oh no..." Ratchet murmured.

He ran towards Angela and knelt beside her. He took off his helmet and both of his gauntlets. He rolled Angela so she lied on her back. Ratchet put his ear near her mouth, to see if she was breathing. To his fear; she was not. Ratchet wiped off the blood that surrounds Angela's mouth and slightly opened her mouth. He then pinched her nose, hovered his mouth over hers and blew air into her. He then did several chest compressions. Ratchet was performing CPR…to keep her alive. After repeating the process a few times, he placed his ear again over her mouth. He couldn't tell if she was breathing; it was either too shallow or she wasn't breathing. Then he placed his first two fingers of his right hand over Angela's wrist, checking for any kind of pulse. Several moments passed, Ratchet's faced was filled with fear and dismay. Clank looked over at him; sadness in his face. Then…a miracle happened…

A faint pulse…

Ratchet's face was filled with hope. He took her hand and squeezed with his blood-covered hands as he pleaded, "Angela…Angela! I know that you can hear me! Please, hang in there!" He then put back his gauntlets and his helmet back on. Clank then reattached himself to Ratchet's back. Ratchet quickly grabbed his weapons and gave them to Clank to store in his storage cavity. He then looked at the blast door, wondering how to get out…

* * *

Ramirez's squad, minus Bravo Squad as they were getting Max Apogee out of the prison, reached Grace's location.

Ramirez ran up to Grace and asked frantically, "Is Ratchet all right?"

Grace shook her head and replied, "I don't know…I heard explosions and shots fired. It's all quiet in there, but I don't know if Ratchet or Angela is alright."

"Louis, there might be a way to get inside," Clark informed. He took out the RYNO 5 and handed it to Ramirez and added, "A continuous stream of rounds from the RYNO 5 should be able to bring down the door."

Ramirez nodded as he armed the weapon. "Stand back, guys!" Ramirez warned. He squeezed the trigger and fragmentation rounds plus rockets were shot from the weapon. He felt the massive recoil that the weapon created. After ten seconds of a non-stop stream of explosions, the door finally gave way. Ramirez gave the weapon back to Clark and he ran inside.

* * *

Ratchet looked at the opened door way and saw Ramirez running inside.

Ramirez stopped abruptly in front of Ratchet and saw the blood on Angela's clothes. "Son of a bitch!" Ramirez cursed. He turned around and yelled, "We need a Medic!" 1stLt. Locke ran up and took out a can from his pack. On the front, it was labeled: BIO-FOAM PROTOTYPE. Using the technology that Ramirez brought back, the U.S. has developed new medical foam that stiffens and hardens over time, excellent use to stop bleeding. Locke pointed the nozzle at the exit wound and sprayed foam into the wound. In seconds, the foam hardened and stiffened, and the bleeding was stopped. Ramirez turned to Ratchet and asked harshly, "Did you kill the bastard that did this?"

Ratchet nodded as he pointed to Lazarevic's body. "We need to get Angela into the Phoenix now, Louis!"

Ramirez nodded and then ordered the Rangers through coms, "We need a transport with a medical team outside of the 2nd level's west wing, now!"

"Roger that!" a Ranger replied.

Ramirez then turned to Grace and ordered, "I'm going with Ratchet, Grace, so I need you to be in charge of Alpha Squad."

Grace shook her head and replied, "No Louis, I'm going with you. You're the only one with a rifle, since Ratchet is going to carry Angela. You'll be overwhelmed."

Ramirez paused for a brief moment and submitted, "Fine, you'll come with us." He then faced Locke and ordered, "That leaves you, Locke. Can you handle being squad leader?"

Locke saluted and replied, "I won't let you down, sir!"

Ratchet knelt besides Angela once more, his right arm underneath her legs and his left underneath her upper back. He picked her up and carried her bridal style. "Louis, Grace: take point!" Ratchet barked. Grace and Ramirez nodded and went ahead of Ratchet. Soon, Ratchet followed them with Angela in his arms.

Soon, they've reached Merc's and Green's squad. Merc saw them and asked, "What happened!"

"Angela got shot…" Ratchet chocked out.

"Can we help?" Green asked.

"The more the merrier!" both Ramirez and Grace replied at the same time. The two share a quick glance at each other and continue to take point.

Soon, they've reached the waiting transport. Its rear ramp was lowered and a medical team was waiting inside. Before the squads can go inside, they were ambushed by Cragmites.

After firing a few shots at the Cragmites, Green ordered, "Ratchet, Grace, Louis, you guys go first! We'll hold them off!"

Ramirez nodded and together, the three ran towards the transport. Ratchet entered the transport first and handed Angela to the Medical Team. Ramirez and Grace entered at the same time and fired at the Cragmites.

After reloading his rifle, Merc ordered his team, "Get into the transport!" One by one, the Rangers entered the transport. Once Merc was inside, he looked behind and saw a Private still outside, firing at the Cragmites. "Private, get inside now!" Merc barked.

The Ranger looked behind him and replied, "I'm coming!" He turned around to run, but then he saw a Cragmite with a Rocket launcher. He fired on the Cragmite, but he was a bit too late. The Cragmite fired a rocket before he was killed. The rocket was heading towards the opened passenger section of the Transport. Without hesitation, the Ranger jumped in front of the Rocket and took the blast.

"PRIVATE DX-210!" Green yelled.

When the dust settled, they saw the Private on the ground with his legs blown off. He wasn't dead; there was still light in his optical receiver. When Ramirez saw this, he jumped off the transport and ran towards the wounded Ranger. He picked him up and ran back to the transport. Even though Ramirez wasn't a Marine anymore, he was still honor bound to never leave a wounded comrade behind.

Once Ramirez and the Ranger were inside, Ramirez yelled at the pilot, "Punch it!"

The pilot heard him and immediately flew away from the Prison. The Medical Team had Angela on a stretcher and put her in sedation. There was a monitor/defibrillator device that was monitoring Angela's heart pace. She was on the verge between dying and living.

Merc checked Pvt. DX-210 and saw that he was still active. "He's alright; he'll get repaired back in the Phoenix."

"Recommend him for the Presidential Star of Courage after he is repaired," Ramirez ordered. The Presidential Star of Courage is the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor on Earth.

"ETA to the Phoenix is two minutes!" the pilot informed.

Then Ratchet heard the tone that he never wanted to hear. A flat tone.

"She's gone into Cardiac Arrest!" one of the medics yelled, "Get the defib unit ready!"

* * *

A/N: I'm not sure that I did this scene right...if there's anybody with some kind of Medical practice, please tell me if I did this right.

* * *

A medic got hold of the pads of the defibrillator, placed them on Angela's chest and yelled, "Clear!" He then released a small jolt of electricity into Angela. The medic then checked the monitor and informed, "No pulse." He charged up the pads again and yelled, "Clear!" He released another jolt of electricity. He then checked the monitors and yelled, "We got a faint pulse! Someone give her an oxygen mask!" One of the medics rummaged through the equipment and placed an oxygen mask on Angela.

Soon, they reached the Phoenix. Once they were docked, the Medical Team raised the stretcher and ran out of the transport with Angela when the rear ramp was lowered. Ratchet was right beside them, holding Angela's hand and tears flowing down his cheeks. The rest of the team was still in the transport.

Once they've reached the entrance of the medical wing, one of the medics stopped in front of Ratchet and said, "I'm sorry, Ratchet, but you can't go inside with her."

Ratchet was shocked. "Why not?" Ratchet asked, doing his best to hide his breaking voice.

"You could contaminate the equipment, Ratchet. You have to wait."

Ratchet didn't want to leave her side, but he knew the risk he could put if he went in there. He nodded and let go of Angela's hand. He watched the Medics take Angela into the ER. He went to the waiting room and took off his gauntlets and his helmet. The fur on his cheeks was wet and his eyes were red. He then studied his hands; it was still covered with her blood. He clasped his hands together nervously. _If Angela dies in there, I'll never forgive myself…_Ratchet thought.

Four hours later…

Ratchet was still sitting on that chair when he saw a Markazian doctor coming out from the ER. He quickly got up and ran towards the doctor. He stopped in front of the doctor, but he was too scared to ask anything. However, the doctor knew what Ratchet wanted to ask; Ratchet's tired, wet, scared face gave it away.

The doctor removed her mouth cover and smiled as she said softly, "She's going to be fine, Ratchet. She made it."

Ratchet felt tears of joy were forming in his eyes. He smiled and he gave the doctor a hug. The doctor was surprised for a second, but returned the gesture.

_It's a miracle…_Ratchet thought. He released his embrace and wiped away the tears that were on his cheeks. "Doctor…when is Angela able to be checked out?" Ratchet asked.

"Whenever she wakes up," the doctor replied, "It might take hours, but you can check her out of the clinic when she's ready." She pointed to the ER and added, "You can go visit her, but AFTER you take a shower!"

Ratchet nodded heartily and ran to his quarters. He took a quick shower and looked for any extra clothes in his quarters. Besides the underwear, Ratchet had a pair of green cargoes. It wasn't the one he wore when he first met Ramirez, as he out grew that pair. He quickly put the cargoes and his hat on and ran towards the ER. The doctor was still there, probably anticipated Ratchet taking a quick shower. The doctor gave a grin and shook her head. She then turned around and slid her card through the scanner. The doors slide open and the two went down the hallway.

They've reached Angela's room and Ratchet looked through the glass window. She was still sleeping, and her wound was gone. She wore bleach white hospital clothes. Ratchet placed a hand on the glass window and smiled when he saw Angela was fine.

The doctor unlocked the door and said to Ratchet, "Stay as long as you want, Ratchet."

Ratchet nodded and walked to the doorway. When he was standing at the doorway, he turned around and looked at the doctor. "Thanks…" Ratchet said. The doctor nodded and walked to a different section of the Medical Wing. Ratchet walked inside and looked for a chair. He grabbed one, placed it besides Angela's bed, and sat next to her. She was still asleep. He took hold of one her hands. He gently placed his other hand against her cheek. Her cheek was warm; full of life. He smiled and a small tear rolled down his face. Ratchet then removed his hand from her cheek and placed it on top of Angela's hand he held to.

He remembered Angela stayed with him when he had that stomach virus. He gave a small smile. _I guess it's time to return the favor, _Ratchet thought. He stayed by Angela's side, waiting to see if anything changes.

* * *

A/N: How did I do on this chapter? Please tell me in your reviews. Also...I'm sad to announce this, but the story is almost over; only at least two chapters left. Don't get upset though, I **DO** plan to make a sequal, but I'm going to finish my other two stories first. So for now, enjoy what I've written so far!


	18. Confessions

A/N: Well, here's the second to last chapter, and my second shot at a Romance based chapter. I would also like to thank Yue Twili for reviewing the chapter before release, hooah! Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Her head felt like it was high in the clouds, which caused her to be nauseated. She was extremely tired, her chest sore from the bullet. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she forced them to open. When her eye lids open a fraction of a centimeter, she immediately faced bright light. Her eyes started to hurt, she tried to shield them with her left hand, but it was held down by something, so she used her right hand. Once her eyes were used to the light, she put her hand backed down.

Angela Cross has awakened…

She was wondering why she couldn't move her left hand, so she looked to her left. Gently holding her hand was her friend, her hero: Ratchet, fallen asleep in his chair. Instead of feeling happy to see Ratchet…she felt apprehensive towards him. _However, he still needs to know I'm alright…._Angela reasoned. She slowly sat up, groaning as she felt pain in her chest, and poked Ratchet's ribs with her right hand.

"Ratchet?" Angela murmured. At first, he didn't respond, so she poked his ribs harder and said louder, "Ratchet?"

He bolted up awakened and startled. When he saw Angela awake, his face was beaming with joy. "Angela!" Ratchet happily cried out. He got out of his chair and wrapped his arms around her. Angela was a bit surprised, but she returned the embrace. "I'm so glad that you're okay!" Ratchet admitted. He released his embrace and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Angela looked away from him, avoiding eye contact with him. "I-I'm fine…just sore from the shot…" Angela replied. Ratchet noticed the breaks in her voice and the stammering, but he dismissed it as she was still recuperating. She heard her stomach growl and quietly asked, "Got any food?"

"I'll see what I can find," Ratchet replied. He slowly got up and walked out the room.

When Angela saw him walking out, she was surprised at how much Ratchet has grown. When she last saw him, she was still at least two feet taller than Ratchet. Now, he was about the same height as her…hell…maybe a few centimeters taller than her. _Wow…he must have one hell of a growth spurt…_Angela concluded.

While Ratchet was walking through the hallways, he had a lot of things in his mind. He was worried about her; she refused to look at him and she sounded sad. _What's happening with her?_ Ratchet wondered, worried. He found the Markazian doctor that he met earlier and said, "Excuse me, doctor? Angela is awake, but she is asking for a meal. Can you bring something?"

"Sure thing," the doctor replied. She walked to one end of the Medical Wing for a few minutes. She returned with a tray of food: tuna fish sandwich, a glass of fresh orange juice, and an apple.

"I'll take it to her," Ratchet informed the doctor. She nodded and passed the tray to Ratchet. When he got the tray, he studied its contents. For some reason, he had the sense of déjà vu. _I wonder if someone else had this kind of meal before..._ Ratchet wondered. He walked back to Angela's room and sat down on her bed, besides her. Ratchet passed the tray to her and said, "It's simple, but it's food." Angela just nodded and started to eat in silence. She savored the taste of the food, since she was barely given any food during her time in prison. Ratchet looked at her with worried eyes, he has to ask: "Angela, is everything alright?"

She paused eating for a brief moment. She still avoided eye contact with him as she growled, "I'm just tired, okay!?"

Ratchet was shocked; she never sounded this hostile towards him. _What's going on?!_ His ears dropped and he looked sad, but he replied, "Oh…okay."

Angela knew that she had hurt him, so she apologizes, "I-I'm sorry, Ratchet. It's just…that I'm grouchy when I'm tired, okay? I'm sorry…"

Ratchet saw that the tray was emptied, so he took it and put on a side table. He replied, "I-It's okay." Angela lied back on her bed and Ratchet tucked her in. "Get some sleep, Angela. I'll sign you out in the morning." She just nodded and closed her eyes. "Good night…" Ratchet murmured. He looked around the room, looking for something to drink. He went up to the sink and looked in the cupboards. He found a paper cup and took it with him to the sink. He turned the tap on and filled the cup with tap water. As Ratchet drank the water, he didn't see Angela facing her inner-demons in her sleep…

* * *

In Angela's dreams, she imagined that she was standing in a grey void. She placed her hand over her aching heart; she had something to tell Ratchet, but was afraid to tell him and how he will react.

"I have to tell him," Angela said out loud, to no one in particular and to no one in the void.

However, there _was_ someone that listened. Black mist swirled around besides and started to take form. The mist solidified into the black silhouette of a Cragmite. "He will never forgive you…if you tell him," the Cragmite warned with glee in his low, scratchy voice.

Angela's ear twitched, she recognized the voice. _No…it can't be! R-Ratchet killed him!!_ She turned around and the Cragmite silhouette began to take color; skin color, fabric color, etc. It was General Chernobog Lazarevic. Angela took a few steps back as she stammered, "N-No…you're wrong; Ratchet's a close friend, he'll understand the circumstances!"

Lazarevic let out a deep, throaty chuckle. "You don't get it do you? He left you and abandoned you for six years; he doesn't care about you! If you tell him that you nearly got him killed…he'll hate you."

Tears were forming in Angela's eyes and her voice started to break. "N-No! He still cares about me! He still cares for me even when I barked at him!" Then she placed her hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake.

"Now you get it?" Lazarevic asked slyly, "He did all those things out of pity; he doesn't give a damn about you. He might even hate you for barking at him. Just telling him that you told us where his home was will just make it worse."

Angela was at a breakdown; she started to run away from Lazarevic, finding some place to hide. Darkness started to fill the grey void. She didn't know where she was going, but she just wanted to hide. She tripped and fell to the ground. She heard Lazarevic's menacing laugh; a low, haunting laugh that haunts her dreams. She curled into a ball and whimpered, trying to ignore Lazarevic's laughs and what he said as darkness started to engulf her.

* * *

Ratchet choked on the water he drank when he heard Angela crying. He coughed out water and he dropped the cup. When he regained his composure, he sharply turned to Angela's bed. Angela was crying and she was in some sort of agony.

"Angela!?" Ratchet cried out. He ran to her and sat down besides her. He gently shook her to get awake. "Angela? I'm here Angela, please wake up!" Ratchet pleaded. She didn't respond to him. He gently placed her head against his chest, slowly rocked her, and whispered softly into her ear, "Angela…I'm here. It's just a nightmare…I'm here, Angela…I'm here…"

* * *

In Angela's dream, she cried and cried as she slowly accepted what Lazarevic said. The darkness was almost on her. She was getting engulfed by the darkness. When the darkness reached her neck, it stopped.

Then, his voice came through the darkness…

"Angela… I'm here. It's just a nightmare…I'm here, Angela…I'm here…"

Then darkness started to fall back and Lazarevic's laugh faded away. Light seemed to brighten the void. She felt his arms around her and she felt the fur on his chest against her cheek. Then Angela can smell the scent of his fur; a musky, spicy scent. She felt his heart beating…strong and healthy, full of life. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the gold and white fur of Ratchet's chest. She slowly looked up and saw Ratchet looking down at her with concern in his eyes.

The nightmare was over…

Angela felt more tears were forming; she buried her face into Ratchet's chest and cried. Her tears seeped into Ratchet's fur.

Ratchet patted her back and whispered, "Shhh…shh…it's alright…it's just a nightmare...I'm here… They stayed like that for about half-an-hour. When Angela stopped crying, she just stayed there, her face buried in Ratchet's chest. Ratchet raised his left hand behind Angela's head and stroked her ponytail. "Feeling better?" Ratchet asked soothingly.

Angela just nodded as she stifled a cry. She didn't say anything for a few minutes, and then she sobbed out, "I-I'm soo…sorry…"

Ratchet looked at her with confusion. "For what reason, Angela?" Ratchet asked softly.

She stifled a cry and then she quietly choked out her answer, "I-I got you into this mess…I told the Cragmites where you lived." Her voice started to break when she added, "You…deserve someone…else better and more trustworthy than me."

Ratchet didn't believe that. He gently took hold of Angela's chin with his right hand. He slowly tilted Angela's head up so Angela could see him. "Angela…you were forced to give that information; you were tortured…you can't blame yourself for that," Ratchet tried to reassure her. Her eyes looked away from him and she didn't say anything. Ratchet gave out a small sigh and resumed, "Angela, if you were scared on how I would have reacted, I don't blame you. However, I can't suppress the feelings I have towards you…" He gave a small smile, a smile that melted Angela's heart. "I don't want anyone else…" He nuzzled his nose into Angela's wet right cheek, catching the scent of her fur; a pleasant, sweet scent. Then he moved his head back and looked deep into her sapphire eyes as he admitted, "I want you."

He moved his right hand and placed it against her left cheek. He stroked her cheek with his thumb; her powder-soft fur gave way and mingled with his. Ratchet gave her a soft smile with compassionate eyes, the same smile he gave her during their last movie night together. He slowly closed his eyes and slowly leans towards her. Angela's face became warm, realizing what Ratchet was about to do. But…she didn't deny it. She closed her eyes and leaned towards him and met halfway. With no interruption this time, their lips met for a soft, tender kiss. Ratchet continue to stroke her left cheek with his thumb as they kissed, wiping away tears that were on Angela's cheek as Angela wrapped her arms around Ratchet's neck.

It was blissful moment for both of them, especially for Angela; she being in Ratchet's arms, holding him, feeling his lips against hers. It was an all new experience. She did, however, gave Ratchet a quick kiss on the cheek when he defeated the Mutant Protopet on Yeedil, but never to experience anything like this. Up until now, everything that Angela had to go through, the torment…the pain…the self-doubt she had felt before this…all of it vanished after each kiss.

After several minutes have passed, they finally parted, still in each others' embrace. They've looked at each other, love in each other's gaze. Angela gave out a small smile, the smile that Ratchet has so dearly missed.

He kissed her forehead and cooed, "I've missed that smile of yours for a very long time."

Angela chuckled as she replied, "Well…it's a smile that's only for you."

Ratchet smiled at her response. Fatigue then began to dwell on both of them. They want some sleep, but they didn't want to be separate from each other. So, they lied down on the bed, still in each other's hold.

His head leaned forward and their noses touch. Then he did what Angela didn't expect: tears were forming under his eyes. "I'm sorry…" Ratchet whispered.

Now it was Angela's turn to be confused. "What for, Ratchet?" Angela asked.

He stroked her ponytail as he quietly admitted, "For leaving you and abandoning you…for six years. I've failed that promise we made during our last movie night together."

Angela gave a soft, reassuring smile and she gave him a small kiss. As soon they were parted, Angela whispered, "You didn't fail the promise, Ratchet. You went to great lengths and sacrifices to save me. You haven't forgotten about me…and you absolutely haven't abandoned me." She snuggled closer to him and added, "You've rescued me from the Cragmites...from the pain…and from my fears. You fulfilled that promise; you have nothing to be sorry for."

Angela closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep, but Ratchet gave Angela a small kiss and murmured, "I love you, Angie."

Angela opened one eye and looked at Ratchet, her savior, her guardian, her lover. "And I love you, Ratchy," Angela whispered before she went into a deep sleep.

Ratchet felt a small tear of joy running down his right cheek. "Good night, my love," Ratchet whispered before he closed his eyes. Without him knowing, Ratchet's tail snaked around and coiled around Angela's waist, pulling her towards Ratchet even more.

They were finally together again…

* * *

A/N: So...how did I do? Please tell me in your reviews.


	19. Epilogue

**A/N: Well...here we are...the endgame. Well...you get what I mean. Like every great story, it must come to an end. Enjoy the last chapter of this great story. Also, I've put a little extra something near the end.

* * *

**

Four months later…

Sunlight shined through a ground level window. The sunlight illuminated the subterranean bedroom. The light started to wake up Ratchet. He twitched his right ear, and slowly opened his eyes. He gave a yawn and looked down, seeing Angela was still in his arms, her head resting on his chest. She wore a light, thin pair of sleeping shorts and a white sleeveless shirt. Ratchet smiled. After her recovery, Angela needed a place to stay, since her home on Grelbin was destroyed by the Cragmites. Ratchet, Clank, Ramirez, and Clark were happy to take her in. Also, she called Mr. Fizzwidget and asked if she could use her unused vacation days, and he was happy to obliged, telling her to take as long as she needed. Normally, she would sleep in the guest room, which was originally Ramirez's room. However, Ramirez didn't mind and slept on the couch in the living room. Sometimes, she would sneak from her room at night and sleep with Ratchet (**A/N: not that kind…just sleep**).

Anyway…today was a special day…

Ratchet stroked Angela's ponytail and she started to wake up. She opened her eyes and smiled when the first thing she saw for the day was Ratchet.

"Good morning, Ratchet," Angela cooed.

"Good morning, Birthday girl," Ratchet replied.

She sat up and looked at him, happy and surprised. "You remembered?" she asked.

"Of course; why wouldn't I remember?" He got up and gave her a small kiss and added, "I'll make breakfast today while you get changed, okay?" She nodded and together they walked out of the bedroom. They saw Ramirez still asleep on the couch with a blanket over him and both Clank and Clark were in hibernation mode at their recharge stations. Angela quietly walked to her room while Ratchet went to the kitchen to make breakfast. He poured pancake batter in a pan and turned on the stove. _Angela's 27__th__ birthday…_Ratchet thought happily. She was at least three years older than Ratchet.

The smell of the pancakes started to wake up Ramirez. His nose wrinkled and he moved around the couch. He got up, stretched his arms and gave out a loud yawn. He scratched the back of his head and got out of the couch. He wore his Military training shirt and shorts. "Why do I smell pancakes?" Ramirez asked out loud.

Ratchet looked over his shoulder and saw Ramirez awake. "Good morning, Louis," Ratchet greeted, "Don't you remember? It's Angela's birthday."

"Oh, yeah! So you're cooking your famous pancakes for breakfast?"

Ratchet nodded and continued with his cooking. Ramirez went to a footlocker at one end of the living room, opened it, took a change of clothing, and entered one of the bathrooms. A few minutes later, Clank and Clark awakened from their hibernation state. Soon, he had a stack of four pancakes for Angela, Ramirez, and himself. Also, he managed to make "pancakes" made of aluminum for Clank and Clark. He started to set the table with each person's unique stack of pancakes: Angela's had blueberries; Ramirez's had chocolate bits; and Ratchet's own pancakes were topped with cinnamon and whipped cream.

While Clank and Clark were helping Ratchet set the table, Ramirez walked out of the restroom, carrying his sleeping clothes under his arm. He wore jeans and a blue/light grey polo shirt. Ramirez walked to the washing machine at one side of the living room and put his laundry inside.

Before Ramirez could turn it on, Angela's voice came through the home. "HEY! Don't turn the washing machine on yet!" He turned around and saw Angela walking fast to the machine, with a bundle of laundry under her arm. She wore regular jeans and a violet top that was tied on the side. When she was a few meters away from Ramirez, she tripped on her own feet and was about to fall to the ground. However, Ramirez covered the distance and caught her with super-human speed. Once she was back on her feet, she gratefully said, "Thanks, Louis."

"No problem," Ramirez replied, "You're family now, and I always care for them."

Angela was touched by what Ramirez has said. In the past, she saw Ramirez's love, protection, and dedication for Ratchet, Clank, and Clark. Ramirez now considers her one his family, and it seems like it was his birthday present for her. "Thank you," Angela whispered, blushing. She walked to the washing machine and loaded her laundry. She turned it on and joined the others at the table and started to eat.

Later…

Everyone pushed their empty plates away from them.

Ramirez drank a small glass of orange juice and confessed, "Ratchet, you're getting better in cooking."

Ratchet gave a small chuckle and replied, "Well, after getting food poisoning ten times in my life, I've learned the hard way to never rush in cooking."

"Did you know that Veldin's going to have a meteor shower tonight?" Clank asked, "News reports state that the shower would arrive at 8 o'clock tonight."

"I've never seen a meteor shower before," Angela admitted. She turned to Ratchet and begged, "Can we go see it, Ratchet? Please?"

She attempted to do the puppy-eyes look at Ratchet. Ratchet smiled and gave a small chuckle. _She doesn't have to do the puppy-eyes look…_Ratchet thought. "Yes we will, Angela," Ratchet replied.

"Well…you got a lot of time to spend before the meteor shower…how about you take Angela into a Birthday Shopping spree, Ratchet?" Clark suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Ratchet agreed. He turned to Angela and asked, "What do you say, Angela?"

She shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Sure, we've got nothing else to do until then."

Later…

It was almost noon when Ratchet and Angela were getting ready to go. The nearest city with a shopping center was 50 miles away, but they're going to take Aphelion so it won't take long for them to reach it.

Ratchet turned to Angela and said, "I'll get my wallet, I'll meet you at the garage upstairs, okay?"

"Don't take long, Ratchet," Angela replied before she went up the stairs into the garage.

Once she was gone from the room, Ratchet turned to Ramirez and asked, "Is everyone ready?"

Ramirez nodded and replied, "The Leviathans has everything we need to do the surprise party. I tried inviting Sasha, Merc, Green, Talwyn, Max, and Grace, but they said that they were busy, so they can't come. However…there's going to be three other people coming. My two brothers and my sister wanted to visit me during their leave. They've missed me, and I've missed them…besides, I think it's a perfect time for you and Angela to meet them; they're really anxious to meet you two."

Ratchet gave it thought for a few brief moments. _Well…Louis practically adopted me after our first adventure…_Ratchet thought…_It seems appropriate to meet the rest of the family._ "That does seem a good idea. Is the Task Force going to pick them up?"

"They've already picked them up during breakfast. They'll be here soon…roughly 30 minutes to an hour. You need to go now; if Angela sees the transport entering the airspace, the surprise party would be ruined."

"But what if she sees the transport when we come home?" Ratchet asked, nervously.

"The U.S. has developed a new cloaking device; all of the Task Forces' transports have been installed with a prototype," Ramirez reassured Ratchet, "Now go before Angela catches wind of our plan."

Ratchet nodded and went up the flight of stairs. In the garage, he saw Angela was sitting in the co-pilot's seat of the space craft. The screen opened and Ratchet got inside and sat in the pilot's seat.

He turned Aphelion on and the AI's voice came through the speakers. "Hello again, Ratchet and Angela," the AI greeted them with its female voice, "Where to this time?"

Ratchet set the coordinates in the console as he replied, "New Haven city, Aphelion." He took the steering yoke and took off.

Hearing the sound of the thrusters fade away, Ramirez knew that they were gone. He turned to Clank and Clark and asked, "Can you two help me start setting with the decorations? We need to do as much as we can before the Task Force comes and helps; the more tasks we've done earlier means we don't have to worry about getting all of the decorations set in time when the Task Force comes."

Both of the robots nodded and started to work. Clank and Clark grabbed the banners and using their heli-packs, they set the banners and the signs. Meanwhile, Ramirez started to cook food for the buffet line. Even though Ramirez was the best cook in his family, his sister, Katrina Ramirez, can bake her famous German Chocolate cake. He wanted her to make the birthday cake.

45 minutes later…

Ramirez just put the racks of baby-back ribs into the oven when he heard the turbines of the Task Force: Leviathans' transport roaring over head. He washed his hands in the kitchen sink before he walked to the stairs. He looked around the house and saw that Clank and Clark did a good job with the decorations; the banners and the tapestry were placed perfectly. The robots then started to put the table fabric and getting their presents ready. Ramirez then walked up the stairs, entered the garage, and waited outside.

He then saw the transport entering the airspace. It descended and landed beside the garage. Ramirez walked towards the portside door and waited for the team to exit the transport. The door slid open and the first three people to walk out were two men and a woman. One of the men was young—barely passed his twenties—black dyed hair, shortest of the group, light brown eyes, wore his ACU, and was a Sergeant Major in the Army Rangers. The other man was in his mid thirties, had the direct opposite hair and eye colors as Ramirez—dark brown hair and light brown eyes—taller than the youngest man, wore the same kind of armor Ramirez has, carried his helmet under his arm, and was a 1st Lieutenant in a Task Force. His emblem was a circle with a spade in the middle, a sword that goes through the middle of the spade, wings on both sides of the sword, a skull on top of the hilt, and two wreaths on either side of the sword, bordering the inside of the circle. The woman was in her late thirties—about two years older than Ramirez, making her the oldest of the group, brunette hair, light brown eyes, taller than the Lieutenant but slightly shorter than Ramirez, wore her Officer's Fatigues, and was a Major in the Army.

Ramirez smiled when he saw the faces of his brothers and his sister. SGM James Ramirez, 1st Lt John Ramirez, and Major Katrina Ramirez have reunited with their brother. The three ran to Louis and gave a group hug.

"It's good to see you guys, again," Louis confessed during the embrace.

"It's good to be back together, Louis," Katrina added.

They've released the embrace and the three asked Louis, "So, how's living in another galaxy, like?"

"It's great!" Louis replied, "There's a lot of exotic places and food, great people, has a great Democracy, and the Military is strong." He turned to John and asked, "How's the 141, John?"

John shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Kind of boring nowadays; there's nothing happening back on Earth. Soap and Price are still my commanding officers, and their leadership hasn't been harmed by the progression of time. Anyway, James has great news!"

"Louis, guess what. Command has given me my own squad to command!" James exclaimed.

He and Louis did a high five as Louis replied, "All right! You do know that you need to be at your best at leadership…that their lives are on your hands? This kind of responsibility is not a walk-through-the-park, you know." James nodded. "Okay, I need to ask help from all three of you. Today is the birthday of my friend, Angela Cross. Ratchet has taken her to a shopping spree at New Haven city. We plan to do a surprise party when she comes home. Can you help the Leviathans get everything ready?"

"Of course we can help!" they all heartily replied.

Together with the Leviathans, they've entered the subterranean home. Even though the home wasn't big, the living room compensates the lack of space, so it was the largest room of the home, able to hold over 30 people. The three siblings were able to meet Clank and Clark, which they spent some time talking to; asking questions about them and how they met Louis. The two other brothers helped the Leviathans set the decorations, the dishes they've brought, and set the presents they've brought with them. Meanwhile, Katrina and Louis started cooking in the kitchen.

Katrina was mixing ingredients for her famous German Chocolate cake in a bowl. Louis hovered over her shoulder and looked at the cake mix.

"Hmm…that still looks delicious," Louis murmured.

He was about to get a small piece of batter to lick, until Katrina smacked the hand out of reach. "Uh-uh! Only the chef and the birthday girl get to taste it first," Katrina barked.

"Aw come on…" Louis whined, "Why do you get to taste it first?"

"Because I'm the chef; I need to taste the cake to see if it's good!" Katrina replied, "Now just focus on _your_ dishes!"

Louis grumbled at her response and continued working on the dish he was preparing, which was Roast Beef. "Get no respect…no respect at all from her…" Louis grumbled.

Five hours later…

Soon…everything was ready by 4 o'clock noon. Louis placed the final dish of the buffet line on the dining table and the fold-out tables that the Leviathans brought with them. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked around the rooms. The banners, the balloons, and the party decorations were set. The presents were gathered at one side of the living room where Angela won't see them when she first enters the home. Katrina was just adding the final touches to her famous German Chocolate Cake. The cake was large enough for everyone to have at least a piece.

Louis looked around the Room for Locke and once he found him, Louis asked, "The transport is cloaked, yes?"

"Yes, sir," Locke replied, "They won't see the transport unless we turn off the cloaking device."

_Now we have to wait..._Louis thought.

Meanwhile…

Ratchet and Angela was returning from New Haven city. In the trunk of Aphelion, there were bags filled with stuff that Angela bought. She didn't go overboard with the shopping; she only bought things that caught her eye and if she thinks she would use it from time to time. She bought clothes, jewelry, some books, and her own laptop computer. Ratchet and Angela also had lunch at a somewhat fancy restaurant in the shopping center.

With one hand on the steering yoke, Ratchet dug into his cargoes' pockets. He looked at Angela, saw that she was looking through the side window. He felt for the small box he bought when Angela was shopping for clothes. He gave small sigh of relief when he felt the box in his pocket. It was a present for Angela, but he'll give it to her at the meteor shower.

He turned to Angela and asked, "Did you enjoy the shopping, Angela?"

She turned to him and smiled. "I loved it, every minute of it," Angela replied. She then leaned towards him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you."

Ratchet's cheeks turned red under his fur as he replied, "No problem." He looked forward and saw that they were near home. He was relieved when he saw that the Transport wasn't visible. "We're almost home, Angela."

Soon, they descended and they parked in the garage. They got out and opened the trunk of the ship. Ratchet helped Angela by carrying some of the bags and together they went down the stairs.

Once Angela stepped off the last tread of the stairs, she noticed that the home was dark. "Ratchet, why are the lights off?" Angela asked.

Then without warning, the lights turned on and a group of people yelled, "SURPRISE! Happy Birthday, Angela!"

She jumped back a bit due to the loud, unexpected yell, but when she regained her composure, she saw that the Leviathans were in the home, smiling, wishing her a happy birthday. Angela looked around the room and saw that there were party decorations. _Ramirez, Clank, and Clark must have put those up while we were gone shopping…_Angela thought. Then the realization dawned on her._ It was all a plan to do a surprise party!_

She turned to Ratchet when he stepped off the last tread. She was smiling and was speechless.

Ratchet put the bags on the ground and said, "Happy Birthday, Angela."

Angela ran to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek. She heard "awes" behind her, as the Leviathans saw the hug and the kiss. "You're the best, Ratchet," Angela purred.

"I'll give you the best of anything, Angela," Ratchet replied lovingly.

Louis walked towards the two. "Hey, there are a few people that really want to meet you two," Louis said. He motioned to his brothers and his sister that stood behind him. "The black dyed hair man is my youngest brother, James; the dark brown haired man is my younger brother, John; and the woman is my older sister, Katrina."

James walked up to the two Lombaxes and extended his hand. Both Ratchet and Angela took turns shaking his hand. "It's an honor to meet you two," James confessed, "Louis has told us great things about you two."

John walked forward and said, "I hope Louis has been a loving brother to you guys for the past years."

"He has been, and always will be," Ratchet replied.

Katrina walked to the two and gave them each a hug. Ratchet and Angela were both surprised, but they returned the embrace. "Welcome to the family," Katrina said, openly accepting the two as part of the family.

Louis set a digital camera on a tripod and aimed at the couch. "Come on, let's take a photo," Louis suggested. The Leviathans cleared out of the area so they won't get in the photo. Ratchet, Clank, Angela, Louis, and Clark sat together on the couch as Katrina, John, and James stand behind them.

Locke set the camera and said, "Smile!" They all smiled as Locke pressed the button. The camera flashed and Locke checked the picture on the preview screen. He gave a thumb up, indicating the group that the photo was perfect.

Louis got off of the couch and went to the camera, to check the photo himself. He pressed the preview button and the photo was shown on the screen. He smiled, seeing the contents of the picture. "Hey guys, take a look," Louis suggested. All of them got off the couch, stood behind Louis, and looked over his shoulder. Clank and Clark, on the other hand, had to be perched on the shoulders of Ratchet and Louis, respectively. They all smiled with him; in the picture, they looked like a big, happy family.

There was a knock on the door upstairs that got their attention. They weren't expecting any more visitors. Louis walked up the stairs and reached the door, wondering who's at the front door. Once he opened the door, he saw the familiar faces of six people. Standing in front of him were Sasha, Merc, Green, Talwyn, Max, and Grace.

Louis was surprised. _I thought they said they couldn't make it?_ "I-I thought you all said-" Louis stammered before he was interrupted.

"And miss the birthday of the Lombax we worked so hard to save?" Merc asked, interrupting Louis.

"Merc and I gave the Rangers the day off to get here," Green added, "We have no regrets about our action."

Louis turned to Sasha and asked, "What about your job, Sasha?"

She shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Politics can wait…besides, I have my secretary holding my calls."

"My father and I don't have anything to do today," Talwyn confessed, "Besides; I would like to meet Angela."

Grace walked to Louis and gave a quick peck on Louis's cheek. Louis's face reddened. "I want to spend time with my friends," Grace said, "The Specters knows that I'm here, and they have no problem with it."

Louis nodded vigorously, happy. _They don't want to miss a thing…_Louis thought. He then turned around and yelled down the home, "HEY! We got six more people coming in!" The group of seven went down the flight of stairs, surprising the party-goers.

After that, the party went on. The Leviathans gave games, movies, and books from Earth. To Angela's delight, one of the Leviathans gave her the Collector's Edition movie set for the Mini Series, "The Pacific." She loved "Band of Brothers," and she heard that this series is just as good. During the party, Ratchet and Angela chatted with Louis's siblings and learned many things about them: Katrina was a nurse before she became a Captain; James is an Army Ranger, and he was there to secure Whiskey Hotel during the Russian invasion of D.C.; and John was in a Task Force, just like Louis, but it wasn't any other Task Force, it was the FIRST Task Force commissioned on Earth, and he was responsible for the death of a General named Shepherd.

Katrina passed Angela a slice of her German Chocolate Cake. "Try it," Katrina suggested.

Angela tasted Katrina's German Chocolate Cake, and she squealed with delight. It was the most delicious cake she ever tasted. It was fluffy, the icing sweet, and the chocolate rich with flavor. _No wonder Louis let his sister bake the cake…_Angela realized. "It's really good!" Angela confessed.

During the party, the Leviathans set up their Gamestation 3. They brought with them a copy of a game that was based on the Russo-American war. There were three modes for the game: Campaign, Multiplayer, and a co-op mode called SpecOps. Angela asked if she could try SpecOps with Ratchet, and the Leviathans were happy to oblige. There were four categories: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Each category contains a variety of missions, Alpha being the easiest while Delta is the hardest.

Their first mission: wipe out the Favela gang while avoiding civilian casualties. They tried it on Veteran difficulty. When they were spawned onto the map, they were armed with an Assault Rifle and a Double-Barrel shotgun. Together, they fought and killed the Favela gang, with no casualties. The invitees were awestruck when they saw Angela's and Ratchet's teamwork; they've watched each other's back and they revive one another when they're downed.

Their next mission was in Delta. It was called "Armor Piercing." Their mission: eliminate 15 heavily armored troops called Juggernauts on an oil rig. According to the Leviathans, it's almost impossible on Veteran. However, Lombaxes love a challenge, so the two tried it on Veteran anyway. They spawned on the bottom level of the Oil Rig, and in front of them were an array of weapons to trade. Ratchet got the Thermal Scoped Intervention sniper rifle and a Thumper grenade launcher while Angela got the Barrette .50 Cal sniper rifle and a M4A1 carbine with a M203 grenade launcher. They worked their way up, barely killing the first Juggernaut in the level. Eventually, they found a worker's platform. Ratchet got on it and used it as a sniper position while Angela placed Claymores behind objects as she lured Juggernauts in so Ratchet could snipe them. When the Juggernauts were chasing Angela, they triggered the Claymores and got stunned by the explosion, while Ratchet snipes them from the platform. When Angela went to cover, she joined Ratchet in eliminating the Juggernauts.

However, things got harder at the last three. While they were both reloading, the remaining Juggernauts charged at them, firing their M240 light machine guns. It was totally unexpected for the two Lombaxes. Ratchet switched for his grenade launcher to stall the three Juggernauts. Angela managed to reload her Barrette sniper rifle and aimed for the heads of the distracted Juggernauts. Both Ratchet and Angela were about to get downed until Angela killed the last Juggernaut with a head shot. They've barely passed the mission, proving the Leviathans wrong on the impossibility of passing this mission.

It was then Louis checked the time. "Hey, it's 7:25," Louis warned, "You two should go and find a good spot to watch the meteor shower."

"Don't worry, Louis," Ratchet reassured him as he passed the controller to Sasha, "I know the perfect spot." He turned to Angela and asked, "You ready?" She nodded and handed the controller to Green. "We'll be back maybe in two hours, is that okay?" Ratchet asked everyone.

"Sure!"

"Yeah, we have no problem with that!"

"Hope you two have fun!"

After hearing more replies like those, Ratchet took Angela's hand and they walked up to the garage. As they passed Louis, Ratchet looked at him and saw Louis winked at him and he quietly mouthed "Hope it works out." Ratchet cracked a small smile. _So he does remember my plan…_Ratchet realized. Together they reentered Aphelion and they took off.

While still in the air, Angela looked at the sky and saw it was clear and the stars were shining brilliantly. She turned to Ratchet and asked, "So where are we going?"

"You'll see," Ratchet teased.

Soon, they've reached the base of a small mountain range. They landed next to a dirt path that led up the mountain and got out of Aphelion. Once her feet were on the ground, she turned to Ratchet, confused. "Um…I don't get it…" Angela confessed.

Ratchet scratched the back of his head, nervous. "Well, the spot I mentioned doesn't have enough space for us to land there. We…have to walk. Don't worry, though, the path isn't long or steep."

Ratchet took her hand again and led them up the trail. They don't need flashlights as the moon and the stars gave enough light for them to see the path. The trail was natural formation; there were no walkways, stairs, or any railings. However, Ratchet knew the trail, so he knows where they're going.

About twenty minutes later, they've reached the spot. They were on a high Cliffside of the mountain. They were able to see much of the desert-climate land and they were close to the sky. It wasn't just the view that amazes Angela; it was the oasis that was in the Cliffside. The oasis was rather small; it was a small body of water, about a small pond. In front of the water was a palm tree, giving shade to those that are underneath it. Surrounding that palm tree was a small patch of grass.

Angela was amazed at the view. She turned to Ratchet and murmured, "This is a beautiful spot."

"Yeah, it is," Ratchet agreed, "It was during the summer…and the person that raised me showed me this spot when I was five. We usually go here during meteor showers or just to watch the stars."

He started to feel tears as he remembered the good times he had with the man that raised him. Even though the man wasn't his biological father…and Ratchet didn't know what species the man was due to the man's armored suit, he still acted as a father towards Ratchet.

Angela noticed the tears under Ratchet's eyes, despite the lack of light. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to comfort Ratchet. "You miss him, don't you?" Angela asked soothingly. Years ago, Ratchet told about the man that raised him to Angela.

Ratchet wiped away the tears and replied, "Yeah…I do. I just wish I knew what he was underneath that armor."

"You'll probably find out eventually," Angela tried to cheer him up.

* * *

**A/N: The person that was mentioned above is in the prologue, "What If: Another Duo." To get a basic understandment of this man, read the prologue. In time...his identity will be revealed.**

* * *

He nodded and together they lied on the patch of grass surrounding the palm tree. They snuggled and they waited for the meteor shower. About 8:09, they saw a thin line of light streak across the sky.

"Hey Angela, it's starting!" Ratchet pointed out.

Angela quickly got up and looked towards the sky. She waited with anticipation and excitement, her mouth opened with awe. When Ratchet saw this, he chuckled a little bit. _She's just like a little child_…Ratchet thought. Soon, more meteors started to streak across the night sky, illuminating the land a bit.

"Wow…." Angela murmured, "This is amazing!"

"Yeah, it is," Ratchet agreed. When he looked at her, the light from the moon, stars, and the shooting stars reflected off her golden fur. She seemed to glow a bit in the darkness. _She's beautiful in this light…_Ratchet thought. He dug into his pants pocket and felt for the small box. It was still there. He got up and wrapped his arms around Angela's neck from behind. "Happy Birthday, Angela," Ratchet whispered into her right ear.

She turned around and kissed Ratchet on the cheek. "This is the best birthday I've ever had," Angela admitted.

"Angela, there is something I would like to talk to you about," Ratchet said.

"What is it?" Angela asked, curious.

Ratchet felt nervous on what he was going to do next. _Well…might as well get this right._ He got on one knee and took hold of one her hands. "Angela…when you were kidnapped, I never had the feeling to get something back so badly. When I saw you hurt, I wanted to be at your side and keep you away from danger. My life was incomplete without you," Ratchet confessed, "Ever since we got together…our life has been filled with happiness. I believe you think the same way?"

Angela just nodded to his question. She was utterly speechless. _Is he going to do what I think he's doing?_

"I want that happiness to last…to last for eternity. I love you. I want to be with you till the very end. There's…only one way for that to happen." He reached into his pants pocket and took out the small, lavender box and opened it, revealing a ring. The ring was made of pure gold, with a large diamond in the middle of the band.

"Angela Cross, would you marry me?"

Angela started to feel tears of joy forming under her eyes. She smiled at him. "Yes, Ratchet, I will." Ratchet felt tears forming under his own eyes as he slid the ring onto her finger. Angela then threw herself at Ratchet, tackling and pinning him to the ground, wrapped her arms around his neck, and started to kiss him passionately. Ratchet wrapped his arms around her waist and returns the kiss with equal passion. He felt his tail snaked around and coiled around her waist. The light from the meteor shower illuminated on their fur, making a heavenly glow.

The universe was safe, the Cragmites were dealt with, he became part of Louis's family, and he's engaged to the girl he loves.

What more could Ratchet ever ask?

THE END

* * *

**A/N: Well...we're at the end. I've enjoyed writing this novel for the past weeks and I'm sad to end it here. I would like to thank all of the reviewers that gave me inspiration to push on till the end. I would also like to personally thank Ratchet Ravenheart (or Ravenhearst) for giving me good feedback on my chapters, and I recommend reading his book, "Ratchet and Clank: After the Great Clock." It has a great story and some...um...great drama. I would also like to personally thank Yue Twili, for being my first reviewer for my Ratchet and Clank books and for reviewing my Romance based chapters before final release. I've already planned for a sequel, but I want to finish my other two stories first, so I don't know when I plan to write it. So in the meantime, please enjoy my other works, "Tale of a Savior" and "Hero of Worlds" ("Tale of a Savior" will the be the first to be updated soon).**

**Oh yeah...I forgot to mention this...I've put a teaser for the sequel below this Author's Note. Just something for you to look forward to...**

**...or maybe to fear...**

**So until next time, this is Swordsman289, and I'm signing off for now. **

* * *

Login ID: ***********

Password: ***********

Login confirmed….[]

Connecting to the Task Forces computer mainframe…[]

Retrieving and downloading file…[]

Download 10%

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Download 35%

…

Download 50%

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Download 75%

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Download 100%

Download complete…[]

Opening Task Force: Leviathan Commanding Officer Dossier…[]

Name: Louis Ramirez

Age: 38

Species: Human

DOB: 08/21/1988  
Gender: Male  
Rank: Major  
Mother: Captain Samantha Ramirez (ret.)  
Father: Colonel Jesus Ramirez (ret.)  
Older sister: Colonel Katrina Ramirez  
Younger Brother: Captain John Ramirez  
Youngest Brother: Sergeant Major James Ramirez  
Brother figure: Ratchet  
History: Survived the Second Russian Civil War and the Russo-American War; Test pilot for the prototype Warp Drive space craft; First human to meet another sentient species; Became brother figure to male Lombax, Ratchet; Helped save Solana and Bogon Galaxies; Rescued Ratchet's wife, Angela Cross; Currently the commanding officer of Task Force: Leviathans.

Status: Active…[]

…[]

Syncing with Subject: Louis armor's servers…[]

Sync complete…[]

Updating dossier (live feed)…[]

Name: Louis Ramirez

Age: 38

Species: Human

DOB: 08/21/1988

Gender: Male

Rank: Major

Mother: Captain Samantha Ramirez (ret.)

Father: Colonel Jesus Ramirez (ret.)

Older sister: Colonel Katrina Ramirez

Younger Brother: Captain John Ramirez

Youngest Brother: Sergeant Major James Ramirez  
Brother figure: Ratchet

History: Survived the Second Russian Civil War and the Russo-American War; Test pilot for the prototype Warp Drive space craft; First human to meet another sentient species; Became brother figure to male Lombax, Ratchet; Helped save Solana and Bogon Galaxies; Rescued Ratchet's wife, Angela Cross; Currently the commanding officer of Task Force: Leviathans.

Status *live feed*: **KIA (Killed in action)**

**DOD: 10/29/2027**


End file.
